Stalin's Commandos
Ukrainian Partisan Forces on the Eastern Front
by Alexander Gogun
Pub Date
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.
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.
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
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781784531683 |
| PRICE | US$35.00 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
| (PDF) |
| (PDF) |
