THE INDIAN LEGION Initially formed in April 1943 as the 950th Indian Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht, this unit consisted of captured Indians - from among those who fought in the ranks of the British in North Africa. In November 1944, the unit was transferred

Chapter 2 LEGION Pomors took courage and went to the Slavic-British Legion, formed by General Edmund Ironside. Russians, Poles, Finns, Lithuanians, Latvians, Czechs, Estonians and even Chinese served in the legion. It was assumed that in 3-4 months the Russians would start fighting, and the British

TURKESTAN LEGION A package from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Third Reich in a solid official envelope with the appropriate stamps and marks was delivered to the designated Berlin address by courier. It followed from this that the recipient with the eastern surname in the ministerial offices

The foreign word "collaborationism" (French сollfboration - cooperation, joint actions) is still classified as difficult to pronounce, although it was borrowed to refer to actual events that took place more than five decades ago during the Second World War. Yes, writing about "traitors, traitors to the motherland" is not easy. It is possible that this publication will be followed by a reaction similar to the thunder of heaven: “It is impossible! Write better about the heroes ... ".

I would like the reader to take into account here: the newspaper text is not a decree on rewarding and not a court verdict. Our goal is not to exalt, but to understand a person who, in the grip of circumstances, had to take a double oath and thrice, together with others who signed up for the Idel-Ural legion, shout “Heil!”.

It is known that the vast majority of prisoners of war, including the “Vlasovites” and the so-called legionnaires, who joined the Germans under the flag of the fight against Stalinism in order to create independent national states, were “calculated” and, with the active assistance of the allies, returned to the USSR and convicted. Even those who had been languishing in German concentration camps for many years fell under the millstones of repression. Few of them, after serving a long term, were released. And which of these unfortunates, in conditions of colossal moral pressure, dared to write memoirs? Such cases are rare. That is why we believe that the memoirs of the former prisoner of war Ivan Skobelev are of historical value. Despite the quite understandable subjective interpretation of events, one cannot ignore new information about the actions of an underground group, which included the former political worker of the Second Shock Army, the poet Musa Jalil, who was guillotined by the Nazis (later Hero of the Soviet Union, laureate of the Lenin Prize).

A few words about the fate of the memoirs. A native of the Chuvash village of Nizhny Kurmei, Orenburg Region, Ivan Skobelev (1915), wrote them at the request of the writer and journalist, editor-in-chief of the Orenburg television studio, Leonid Bolshakov, who was interested in Chuvash history (the author of the brochure "Leo Tolstoy's Chuvash Correspondents"). Apparently, after the triumphant return of Musa Jalil’s “Moabit Notebooks” to the USSR during a short “thaw”, the author had hope that the attitude towards other prisoners of the camps, as well as towards all the victims of the war, would change. Once again mentally walking along the bumpy roads of the war, he, of course, was looking for a way to gain mental stability (to keep colossal information and impressions inside is an incredible test). To tell, confess, justify to posterity, perhaps, the author thought about this too.

Valery ALEXIN.

Brief historical background

The Volga-Tatar Legion (Idel-Ural Legion) is a division of the Wehrmacht, consisting of representatives of the Volga peoples of the USSR (Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Udmurts). Volga-Tatar legionnaires (about 40 thousand people in total) were part of 7 reinforced field battalions; 15 economic, sapper, railway and road construction companies; and 1 battle group of the Eastern Turkic SS formation. Organizationally subordinate to the Headquarters of the Command of the Eastern Legions (German: Kommando der Ostlegionen).

The legion was created in Jedlino (Poland) on August 15, 1942. The ideological basis of the legion was the creation of an independent Volga-Ural Republic (Idel-Ural). The leading role in the ideological training of the legionnaires was played by emigrants - members of the national committees formed under the auspices of the Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories.

The Volga-Tatar Legion used a variant of the patch, which looked like a blue-gray oval with a yellow border. In the center of the emblem was a vault with a vertical arrow. Idel-Ural was written at the top in yellow letters, and Tatar Legion at the bottom. Round cockades on headdresses had the same combination of colors as the stripes.

At the very first clashes with the enemy, many legionnaires, most of whom were recruited against their will from among prisoners of war, went over to the side of the Red Army and the Allied armies. An underground organization led by Musa Jalil made a great contribution to maintaining the spirit of the legionnaires and the rejection of Nazi views.

Volga-Tatar legionary "Idel-Ural", 1944

War

The first day of the war passed like all the previous days, except for the announcement of the beginning of the German invasion. On June 23, part of the soldiers took the oath. For the first time they held live ammunition in their hands, for the first time they saw simple and explosive bullets. And the rifles got the same - the old model with a trihedral Russian bayonet. The war has begun, but we have not yet seen machine guns.

The people knew that a conflict with Germany was inevitable. The rank and file met the war calmly. We considered the concluded pact of friendship and non-aggression as an absurdity in the policy of our government. It was only strange to listen to the Red Army soldiers forbid by the commanders to speak of Germany as a state hostile to us.

In the evening we took off from the newly settled tents and dugouts and made a transition of about sixty kilometers to the West. We thought we were going to load to be sent to the front. The mood was cheerful, fighting. The first big hike did not exhaust me at all, although I wanted to sleep and rest.

We began to take a position, dig trenches. When everything was done, an order was received: to get together to replace the dislocation. This time we went back 25 km. Why was such maneuvering necessary, and for the entire division? Why were we treading water? The command was confused, continued to liberalize in an academic way. The fact that the commanders forgot the practice of civil war also speaks of confusion.

The trampling on the spot ended on June 29 or 30, in the evening we were loaded onto a train and transferred overnight to the city of Gorodok, Vitebsk region. Upon the arrival of the division, replenishment of the newly mobilized arrived. They could not be equipped and armed. They were forced to send to Vitebsk.

The first battles began on July 3 or 4, and ended successfully. Several armored vehicles and tanks were hit. They brought several captured Nazis. They behaved arrogantly. Shouted: "Rus kaput."

At dawn the next day, the attack of the main enemy forces began ...

When crossing the highway, they ran into a German ambush. We did not know the number of the enemy. To disperse the fire, we decided to split into several groups. I stayed in the center. At the appointed time, we crawled forward and opened fire on the enemy. I don't remember how long the fight went on. The cartridges in the clip ran out, the last grenade remained. On command, he went on the attack. I don't remember anything further.

Soon the Germans approached, who were collecting trophies.

Captivity

By evening we ended up in a camp built right in the field. About two hundred people were gathered here, all from the battlefield.

The first days I was very tormented by wounds. There was a fragment sticking out in the side, the neck under the jaw was stitched with a bullet. I couldn't drink or talk.

We were soon lined up for dispatch. A special team came on bicycles and motorcycles. As soon as we went out of the gate, the sick and wounded in the leg were shot before our very eyes. The same fate befell those who fell along the way.

In Vitebsk, a camp was built on a huge square, where the warehouses of the People's Commissariat of Defense used to be. There were a lot of prisoners here. We were let in without any registration on the account. There were many soldiers without tunics and caps, like me. There was also a command staff with insignia, well-groomed officers, clean, as if they had not seen the war. These people were special. They smoked, many of them already occupied the posts of senior barracks.

Doctors and paramedics came and began to treat the wounds. The Germans did not use our dressings, they handed them over to the camps. They pulled a fragment out of me, cleaned the side of crushed bones. The surgeon Petrov, having examined me, said: "You will live if you do not die in this hell."

Among the neat dandies, some wore white armbands with a black letter "P" (policeman) on their sleeves. Most of them spoke Ukrainian among themselves. They were armed with belts with a heavy buckle, which were used when necessary. They beat them mercilessly, with pleasure. They caught "witches", that is, they searched for commissars and Jews. They lived in a separate block, ate separately.

Jews and commissars were put in a ring specially fenced off with barbed wire and kept hanging on their chests with the inscription: “Judas”, “commissar”, “weather vane” (fugitive), then hung in front of the prisoners.

This is how I came to know the fascist order in captivity.

Branded "A" (Asian)

There was a rumor: the Germans let Ukrainians and Belarusians go home, but only civilians. After starving for three days, he exchanged torn civilian clothes for three rations of bread. I wanted to get out of this hell. So I got to the stage. We were brought to the city of Borisov. The next day they started commissioning. When they began to undress, many found Red Army linen, wounds. Without letting us come to our senses, we were sent to a prisoner of war camp. They took me to work here. They fed twice, gave two liters of good gruel from barley groats for five people, and two more loaves of bread.

Red Army uniforms were soon handed out. After they were divided into groups according to nationality, large letters were drawn on the backs of overcoats and tunics with oil paint: “r” (Russian), “y” (Ukrainian), “b” (Belarusian), “a” (Asiatic). In the blocks, they identified Russians as policemen - Ukrainians, Belarusians - Asians, etc.

According to the Internet.

Already in the first weeks and months of the war, the Wehrmacht began to use Soviet prisoners of war as auxiliary personnel (cooks, drivers, grooms, handymen, cartridge carriers, sappers, kitchen assistants, messengers, signalmen) directly in their combat units. Later they were mobilized into security and counterguerrilla units. By the end of 1942, these people were brought into the so-called "Eastern battalions".

By the last period of the war, when Germany had run out of human reserves, they remembered those who tried from the very first days of the war to become an ally of Germany and in the future to obtain at least a minimum of independence for their people. At the first stage of the war, they were brushed aside like annoying flies. No wonder, because Germany was strong, and its army was at Moscow itself. At a critical moment, the Germans remembered the prisoners of war. A paradoxical situation developed at the front towards the end of the war, when it was discovered that the few German military units were 40-50 percent or more made up of natives of the Soviet Union and various exotic countries. So, after the assault on the Reich Chancellery, Soviet soldiers looked with surprise at the corpses of its dead defenders with Asian eyes.

After the end of the war, part of the legionnaires, with the support of influential friends from a number of governments of Muslim countries, took refuge in the Middle East and Turkey. Those who remained in the USSR were repressed.

Soldiers of the newly created legion "Idel-Ural", 1942

In the circles of hell

They drove us to Minsk on foot. There were many shootings along the way. The first victims remained on the outskirts of the city of Borisov, near a warehouse with fertilizers. For more than a week they fed us without salt. As they passed by this warehouse, the exhausted people mistook fertilizer for salt, and the front column rushed forward, made a dump. The convoy opened fire on the crowd with submachine guns and machine guns.

... A new camp was built on the territory of Lithuania on the site of a military camp. The whole area is covered with greenery. Gigantic lindens all around. Gorgeous barracks. But nothing pleased us, except for the grass, which grew abundantly in the camp. The hungry pounced on pasture. They ate raw grass, ate it with water and salt. Didn't eat! And there was nothing tastier than plantain. Ate and stocked up. As a result, 1500-2000 people ate all the grass in a huge area in three days. And the prisoners kept coming and coming. Inside the camp, even the trees were gnawed. The windows were smashed in order to scrape the fibers of the trees with a piece of glass for food. Luxurious lindens now stood completely naked.

The weather was damp and cold. The inhabitants of the camp were concentrated in barracks and stables. They fed badly. All stories about a past life, about work and relatives ended with memories of some memorable dinner. In this mass, consisting of adults and intelligently reasoning people, all thoughts revolved only around food. If they had said that we would feed them and then shoot them, perhaps no one would have refused such a “mercy”. They didn't think about life. With a dream of food, they fell asleep and woke up.

Prisons are the same everywhere. I came to this conclusion later. I mean not only the external and internal structure, but also the regime, and so on - dampness, darkness, punishment cells, rooms for investigation with torture equipment. Such were the prisons in Stetin, Gdansk, Brest, Minsk, and after the war - in Cheboksary. How much sophistication in them for greater human suffering! How carefully the staff is selected for this!

People who have not gone through the circles of hell sometimes argue: it’s good there, but it’s bad here, and they give the sentenced before execution to eat to their fill and even drink. These are people - dreamers, braggarts, stuffing their own worth, as if they have seen a lot in life.

In prisons everywhere hard and hungry. But in prisons, where they look at you like an enemy and treat you like a dangerous animal, it's even harder.

Processing of our camera began at the end of January 1942. Seven Lithuanians passed before me, three of them returned to the cell from the first interrogation - beaten beyond recognition.

My turn came too. The interrogation began peacefully and quietly: who, where, how was he captured? For the first time, I gave my last name, where I came from and who was by nationality. To the accusations that I was left for espionage work, that I was a communist, I answered with a categorical refusal. Then he fell off his chair from the impact. They beat with anything.

According to the stories of my comrades, I lay motionless for three days.

Soon we were loaded into the train. On the road they gave 100 g of liver sausage and a loaf of bread. Everyone ate all this immediately, and for three days they went hungry.

They unloaded us in the afternoon at one of the small railway stations in Saxony. In Stadtlager No. 314, they let me go through sanitation, gave us old German tunics and shod them in wooden blocks. A tin plate with a number was hung around his neck. My number is 154155 (probably according to the number of prisoners).

Here in separate zones lived the British, Americans, French and Greeks. All of them, in comparison with us, looked like well-fed stallions. They were not driven to work, they were fed well. Their clothes and shoes were new army, in the form of their countries. They were allowed to receive letters and parcels through the Red Cross. They played sports games and read newspapers. The Germans treated them as equals. At the same time, Soviet prisoners were dying of hunger, beatings and hellish conditions created especially for them.

General of the Eastern Forces (General der Osttruppen) Lieutenant General X. Helmich inspects the battalion of the Volga-Tatar Legion. Summer 1943

The prisoner does not know the reasons for the change

In State Camp No. 314 we were imprisoned in a bloc of national minorities. Georgians and Armenians occupied separate zones here, the Volga and Central Asian nationalities were located at the other end. After sanitation, we were given overcoats, boots with socks and trousers. The food here was different.

We did not know the true reason for this change. They explained in their own way that the war had dragged on, the Germans, fearing for their own skins, were trying to smooth over their crimes, etc. For persuasiveness, they reminded that there was an ultimatum from Molotov to Germany about responsibility for violating international rules for keeping prisoners of war. In a word, everyone invented something, argued, reasoned in anticipation of the good.

The strong and well-fed kept themselves apart, ruled over the weak, chose the best places and tried to stand out in front of the camp authorities.

During the 10-year stay in the camp after the war, I had to meet with such "world-eaters" more than once. They settled here too, became the same as they were in the fascist camps - thieves, robbers and murderers of honest workers. They never realized their guilt for the lost souls, in many cases through their fault, in fascist captivity. They grumbled at the Soviet power, at Stalin, at the party. They hated the people and lived only for the sake of their belly.

Brought to Poland, in the town of Sedlice. I ended up in the "weak team" of the Tatar camp. We were divided into companies, platoons and squads. Two battalions were formed before us, and drill exercises were already underway. There were no weapons. They fed according to the norm of a German soldier.

Soon the purpose of the importation and formation became somewhat clear. I was especially struck by the introduction of the hour of namaz (prayer) and its submissive performance by the prisoners. Mullahs were found from somewhere, and they were by no means old men.

In the "weak company", except for me and two Mordvins, everyone was Tatars. Nobody knew that I was a Chuvash, because I spoke Tatar perfectly.

Mulla calls for worship

When they lined up for prayer, I joined the tail. The command came (of course, in Tatar): "Sit down for prayer." An internal protest held me like an idol. Mullah's voice brought me to my senses, and I got out of line and stood on the flank. He stood for 20-30 minutes while the mullah read a prayer, and then ranted about the onset of a “happy time”.

After the prayer, they dragged me to the officer: “Why didn’t you pray?” Through an interpreter, I replied that I was a Christian and a Chuvash by nationality.

This incident changed my position somewhat. If earlier they looked like a “goal” (he was terribly thin, instead of 72 kg he weighed only 42). Released from outfits, drills. Thanks to this incident, I became closely acquainted with the Tatar Yangurazi, with whom we fought in the same division.

This act played an important role in my later life in Germany and contributed to the meeting with Musa Jalil.

Soon the battalion commanders began to be led into the city in groups with one escort. They visited "Soldatenheims", "Vufs" (brothels), from where they brought schnapps and bimbras (moonshine). Belated but true news began to arrive: Leningrad was standing, the Germans' attempts to reach the Volga had failed. But prostitutes also spread false information.

On one of the difficult days, three “gentlemen” in civilian clothes arrived at the Sedlice camp. They began to call the prisoners to the headquarters of the camp. An elderly Tatar was talking to me. By the way, he did not speak his native language well.

A few days later we were put into a passenger car and sent to a special camp of the Eastern Ministry. Most likely, it was a filtration (checking) point: the intelligentsia of all nationalities of the USSR was concentrated here.

After 2-3 months, I found out: General Vlasov was gathering a million-strong army for a campaign against Stalin. A little later I had to meet with Vlasov himself.

barracks

Tie presses the neck like a collar

The camp had a club and a library with publications in Russian. There were many books by immigrant writers. Movies were shown in the club, lectures were given on the National Socialist program. Mein Kampf was brought straight to the barracks.

These days there was a rumor that Musa Jalil, the chairman of the Union of Tatar Writers, was nearby, in a quarantine camp. Among us were people who knew him. This is Alish (children's writer, before the war - head of the department of pioneers of the Tatar regional committee of the Komsomol), Satarov, an employee of the editorial office of the Krasnaya Tatariya newspaper.

Two weeks later, everyone was summoned to the headquarters of the camp, forced to fill out and sign a form with the following content: “A prisoner of war such and such is released, and at the same time he undertakes to work with the German authorities where they are sent.” Under pain of death, they undertook an obligation not to communicate with German women.

After that they took us to Berlin. Here they brought to the warehouse of one of the shops, dressed in civilian clothes. Leaving the store, I told my friend that a paper collar with a German tie pulled around the neck was crushing the neck like a collar.

From the memoirs of a prisoner of war Rushad Khisamutdinov

... The Tatars were reluctant to join the German legion. Then the Nazis decided to find a man who could carry all the prisoners with him. The recruiters were persistent. It is known that high-ranking officials were busy around Musa Jalil at that time - both Rosenberg and Unglyaube, and the notorious "president" of the imaginary state "Idel-Ural" Shafi Almaz. But Musa at first did not want to hear about serving with the Germans. Only later, realizing that the idea of ​​​​the Nazis opens up the opportunity for him to engage in anti-fascist propaganda in the legions, he agreed. The path that Musa took was difficult and dangerous.

... After the arrival of a new replenishment, a musical chapel (cult platoon) was organized. Thirteen people were selected as "artists". None of them were professional artists. Gainan is a teacher, Abdulla is a senior political instructor, etc. However, our Edlnin "musicians" - Garif Malikov, Ivan Skobelev, Sadykov and others also did not have a special education.

From the book "Memories of Musa Jalil", Kazan, 1966.

Lieutenant General X. Helmich at the next inspection of the battalion of the Volga-Tatar Legion. Presumably - 1943

What Tatars do the Chuvashs stand in solidarity with?

For three weeks we lived in a hotel of the third category "Anhalter Baikhov". We ate in the canteen with ration cards. They didn't know the language, so they had to stay in the room. Sometimes they went for a walk in the city.

During this time, he became closely acquainted with Alishev, Shabaev, Bulatov, Sabirov. Especially good relations developed with Alishev. I appreciated his frankness and simplicity. I learned from him that the poet Musa Jalil, a favorite of the Tatar people, would soon arrive here.

The group was often taken on excursions to theaters. A guy from the Donbass was attached to us, a student of the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​with a surname (doubtful) Sultan. He also issued food cards, stamps and pfennigs. Sometimes some of the "goal", including me, were not taken on excursions, because due to our thinness, the Germans could have an unsatisfactory idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe Tatars. On such days we killed time by studying German from a soldier's handbook.

One evening we wandered into the "birnetube", which was located in the basement, where the Belgians and the French gathered. For the first time I saw the situation described by Gorky and other writers: a beer hall, immersed in smoke and mud, with painted and disheveled girls on the laps of men. Behind the counter stood a pot-bellied red-faced owner, who carefully took stamps and pfennigs, as well as smuggled goods, gold rings and other souvenirs and poured schnapps or ersatzbeer.

Our appearance did not go unnoticed. Three Frenchmen surrounded us. We did not understand them, they did not understand us either, the phrase "Russian gefagen" (Russian prisoners) explained everything. The French put us at the table, offered beer, but we refused due to lack of money. They slapped us on the shoulder, called us comrades, treated us to cigarettes. But soon a policeman came up and took us to the hotel, ordered the hostess not to let us go anywhere alone.

Days passed full of languor and anxiety. One day the group was ordered to be on the spot. At 18 o'clock the interpreter Sultan took us to the "Exeldtser" restaurant.

I had never seen such splendidly decorated halls before: hundreds of tables, booths, chandeliers, serving buffets, fluttering waiters... The smell of high-grade cigarettes was intoxicating. There is no war here, here they do not know about hunger, pain and deprivation.

We were led through a huge hall, probably in order to show how richly live and confidently behave fascist degenerates.

Several men and women met us in a small hall. They turned out to be Tatars who had remained in Germany since the First World War (the women were their wives and daughters). Our arrival revived the company. Among the prisoners, they were looking for their fellow countrymen and relatives. Soon an old Tatar man appeared, who in Sedlice picked up the people he needed. With him came a man of average height, baggy and haggard-looking. He modestly greeted Alishev (embraced) and followed the old man forward. It was Musa Jalil (Gumerov, as he introduced himself).

They offered to take a seat. The German and the old man announced the opening of an evening of acquaintances of Tatars in Berlin with "newly arrived gentlemen" (efendi). An old Tatar man, who was named Shafi Almaz, said that we were gathered to fight Bolshevism, to form independent national states with the help of the Nazis. And we, the "color of the nation", were supposed to lead this business. It was announced that a leading center called "Tatar mediation" was being created in Berlin under the Eastern Ministry. A newspaper in the Tatar language "Idel-Ural" will be published.

Then there was dinner at the expense of unused cards. The ladies wanted to hear Tatar songs. Nazipov and a young boy, whose last name I don't remember, spoke. Then they began to ask Musa Jalil to read something. He readily agreed, read humorous poems. One of them, I remember, was called "Parachute".

My acquaintance with Jalil took place on the same evening. He approached me himself. At first they spoke Russian, and then they switched to Tatar. He asked if I had been in captivity for a long time, where I had fought, how I had been captured. I don’t know what impression I made on Jalil, but after that the attitude of the “well-fed” towards me changed somewhat.

The following days they settled in the premises allocated for the "Tatar Mediation". Then responsibilities were assigned. All this happened without the participation of Jalil.

"Tatar Mediation" was located on Noenburger Street on the third floor of a brick house. The second floor was occupied by "Turkestan mediation" (Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, etc.).

A day later, a meeting of mediation workers was held. Many Germans were present, there was even an SS general (later they found out that they were a representative of the Eastern Ministry, Professor von Medsarich and two secretaries: Frau von Budberg and maid of honor Döbling). There were three Tatars in military uniform who arrived from the legion. At this meeting, it was announced: "Tatar mediation" will be the center of the struggle for the liberation of the Tatar people from Bolshevism and the establishment of such independence as it was before they were conquered by the Russians.

Gunafin, Sultan, Gilyadiev and someone else spoke, called to fight for a "just cause", the emphasis was on the Fuhrer, and at the end they shouted: "Heil Hitler!"

When these tirades were over, they asked: "What will our Chuvash friend say?" I answered: "If there were as many of my relatives as Tatars, a lot could be said, but so far I can only say one thing: I stand in solidarity with the Tatars." Frau von Budberg translated my words to the Germans. Shafi Almaz asked: why did I speak in Russian when I speak Tatar perfectly? "I did not speak, but answered your question. To speak, you need to prepare," I replied.

During the break, M. Jalil approached me. He asked: what kind of Tatars do the Chuvashs stand in solidarity with? There was no one nearby, and I boldly answered: we were and will be in solidarity with all neighbors, regardless of nationality. He shook hands with me and turned to Yangurazi who came up: "You seem to be great friends, this is the second time I see you together." The friend replied: "Yes, we are from the same division."

After that, they talked in Tatar: where he was captured, who else is with the Germans, etc. But then Jalil was summoned to the "chief".

It was soon announced that Unglyaube would lead the organization from the Germans, and Shafi Almaz from the Tatars (translators Sultan and Jalil). Organizational and propaganda departments were created, as well as the editorial staff (Ishmaev, Gilyadiev, Alishev, Satarov, Sabirov, and others). Yangurazi and I were out of work.

Everyone was given ration cards and a monthly salary. We had to start living in a private apartment, we had to come to work every day.

Soon we were given foreign passports. Passed a commission to determine racial affiliation (they measured the head, the shape of the eyes, and God knows what else). And what do you think? I, a Chuvash, and 15 other Tatars received an assessment similar to the Aryan race. Everything came together in size. Then we laughed that we were canonized as saints.

Musa Jalil

Tell the prisoners a living word

The first weeks passed unnoticed. The German and Shafi Almaz, the translators Sultan and Jalil were constantly away somewhere. It became known about the existence of the Tatar legion in the town of Seltsy near the city of Radom. In addition, workers' battalions were formed. The base for the collection of prisoners of war of all the Volga nationalities was the fortress of Deblin (Poland).

During this time, the first issues of the newspaper "Idel-Ural" were published. Their content can be assessed as illiterate-wretched.

Relations with the nationalist Tatars deteriorated. They came up with the nickname "kefer" (non-believer) for the fact that at the meeting I said loudly "hello" and answered their appeal only in Russian. All this infuriated my enemies.

On this basis, an explanation took place with Almaz and Ungliaube. The first expressed sharp indignation at my behavior. If not for the support of Frau Budberg, who had a negative attitude towards ignoring the Russian language, I would have been sent to a concentration camp.

After this "bath" we walked along the street with Yangurazi. We were met by Jalil, who asked if it was possible to spend a little time together with inseparable friends? The conversation turned to how we settled down, what we need. When I told about the "banya", he replied: "You, Skobelev, will not be sent anywhere, you are more needed here." He offered to change the attitude to the "sofa", to rebuild the character, to pull himself together, to become the "master" himself. Let them think and report to the boss that the conversation was beneficial.

You say: tired of idleness, - continued Jalil. - You, Yangurazi, are a communist, and Ivan is a member of the Komsomol. Consider yourself temporarily excommunicated from your organizations. You have a weapon - the teachings of Lenin - Stalin, which you have no right to forget. Look around: how many camps with Soviet people! After all, there is an absolute majority - our peers. Look for communists and Komsomol members among them. Find and speak the living word, the word of hope. Instill in them faith in victory, that Stalin and the party have not forgotten them.

Further, Jalil gave specific tasks: first, to study Berlin well; the second is to find out how many camps and where they are located; the third is to make acquaintances, make friends with smart and serious people. He promised that we would receive additional instructions soon.

After that, he said that he had been in the legion. 4 battalions have already been created there, there is one Chuvash company. Legionnaires are armed and trained in the use of German weapons. Among the commanders are Tatars and Germans. There is a colonel who graduated from the Academy. Frunze.

We talked about colleagues in misfortune. M. Jalil gave everyone an assessment. We parted when it got dark. He left by electric train, and we went by tram past the prison, where the poet later languished and was executed.

That night we could not sleep, we talked until dawn: the meeting turned our life upside down.

From a letter from I. Skobelev to L. Bolshakov

I promise you to write in detail about everything - about comrades and enemies with whom I had to work in Berlin from September 1942 until the end of the war. It was a shame to me for Musa Jalil until he was appreciated. Personally, I, being under investigation in the Soviet counterintelligence in Germany, and then in the Ministry of State Security in Cheboksary, told Minister Mitrashov, his deputy Lebedev and investigator Ivanov, but not in order to justify myself (for I was no longer afraid, more than what I had - they couldn’t give me, the execution was later replaced by ten years), but in order to rehabilitate the comrades who laid down their lives, in order to preserve their good name. But, alas, they did not listen to us, but on the contrary, they mocked us, punished us.

And the information, which was confirmed by the "Moabit Notebooks" transmitted by the Belgian comrade, was presented by many of the arrested during interrogations. The memory was fresh at the time. Much, much could be said about the communist organization created by Musa Jalil in Berlin.

Let's tell the prisoners about Vlasov's adventurism

Musa Jalil informed us from time to time about the situation on the fronts, about the partisan war in the rear. The circle of our acquaintances expanded, from where there were no Soviet people in Berlin: from Kharkov, Voroshilovgrad, Kyiv, Smolensk, etc. We were expected, asked to come more often. Especially I had to travel a lot during the days of mourning of the Nazis after February 11, 1943. A hastily handwritten leaflet with the note “Read it and pass it on to a comrade” reported on the defeat and capture of the Germans near Stalingrad. People cried and laughed with joy, including the French, Belgians, Bulgarians, and others. They kissed anyone they met with a prisoner of war badge on their chests.

Jalil laughed heartily when I told him about it. He teased: “Well, Ivan, is there now what to do with time?” And then he seriously generalized: “This is how international solidarity is forged. You and I are doing serious and dangerous work. Although we are not fighting, we are fighters and are in a difficult area ... ".

In the "mediation" we appeared in the morning. After 10 o'clock we went to the university to study German.

Each group was necessarily introduced to M. Jalil. He clarified the information based on our observations. The poet had a phenomenal memory, remembering faces especially well.

And what an admirer of Stalin he was! I wholeheartedly believed in his infallibility.

The myth of the superiority of the Aryan race over others began to fade. Posters on this topic were removed from the trams. The attitude towards Soviet prisoners of war has changed. It was no longer always the policemen and watchmen who were punished for the absence of a badge. They began to look through their fingers at the loopholes from under the barbed wire, through which they were released without a permit. If someone was stopped at the same time, then they were no longer punished, as before, with a punishment cell and beatings. The short answer - where he went ("to the tsum ferluben" - to his beloved) - caused only a smile from the Vakhtmans.

It was difficult to understand the reason for such changes. Musa warned that all this could be connected with the intrigues of General Vlasov. Hitler accepted him and gave his consent to the mobilization of a million-strong army to fight Stalin on fascist grubs. The Vlasov traitors renamed the organ of Russian emigrants "Russian Word" into "New Word". In one of the newspaper issues, a picture of Hitler with Vlasov appeared.

It was necessary to explain Vlasov's adventurism to the prisoners. To accomplish this task, Jalil organized a meeting "in the same place, at the same hour." According to the text compiled by him, it was necessary to multiply the leaflets and “scatter” them around the places of appearances. And Yangurazov and I sat all night copying a leaflet that said: “Vlasov was hired as a servant to Hitler. He intends to sell the Soviet people in the same way that Denikin, Kolchak, Wrangel and Krasnov were once sold to the imperialists. The time will come, Vlasov and his inspirers will be punished. Our cause is just, Victory will be ours. The Communist Party of Bolsheviks in Berlin.

One day, accompanied by a sergeant major, the commander of the Tatar legionnaires, Colonel Alkaev, appeared. Then we learned that he had come to Berlin demoted for his connection with the Poles and had to be under surveillance.

The colonel became attached to Yangurazov and me. From confidential conversations, we learned that Shakir Alkaev came from Russified Kasimov Tatars (born near Moscow). By the end of the civil war, he commanded a squadron, and was awarded an order for the assault on Perekop. In the late 40s he graduated from the Academy of the General Staff, met the war with the rank of colonel.

He considered the Vlasov adventure as a cunning move, conceived to defeat fascism. He gave an example from the history of past wars: military leaders, being in captivity, armed and raised uprisings of prisoners and struck from the rear. He did not want to believe that Vlasov was a traitor, since at one time he served under him.

I told Jalil about these arguments. “This is a private matter,” came the reply. “He can think and fantasize everything, but we cannot agree with Vlasov’s actions.”

Volga-Tatar legionary "Idel-Ural"

With a certificate of a researcher

Chuvash Fyodor Blinov sent a letter to Musa Dzhalil through a courier, saying that he was glad that the Tatars began to publish their newspaper, asked if it was possible to arrange inserts in Chuvash. The poet advised us: carefully, under a plausible pretext, prevent this.

Along with the publication of the newspaper "Idel-Ural" at the end of March, the "Mediation" began to publish the so-called "Correspondence" in German for German officers and soldiers who were among the Tatar units. The process of processing materials for this edition was as follows: articles were written in Tatar, then all this was translated into Russian, and then the secretary translated into German and reprinted on a matrix, after which they were reproduced on a rotary machine.

Once a translation into Russian was offered to my friend Yangurazov. He pored for a long time, but he did not succeed. Then he turned to me. The secretary praised our work, after which they began to entrust us with translations of more serious things.

I personally had to translate an article by M. Jalil about the founder of modern Tatar literature G. Tukay, composer N. Zhiganov, a review article on the development of Tatar literature. Before being sent for translation into German, the author looked through the manuscripts and was satisfied. The articles were full of real facts taken from Soviet reality.

While Jalil was away, for three days we were at the dacha near Berlin with the emigrant Gilmanov (we worked for a suit taken from him for the colonel). From him we learned about the life of Shafi Almaz, the head of the mediation. The former merchant from Petrograd managed to keep his capital in a foreign bank and began working at a trade mission in Berlin. In 1928, he renounced Soviet citizenship and became an emigrant. In Berlin, he became a landlord, living on the income received from rent.

Gilmanov himself, a former prisoner, worked for the owner and married his daughter. He missed his homeland greatly. Before the First World War, until he was taken to the front, he even worked as a laborer.

Gilmanov kept a grocery store, and through him we began to get tobacco or cigarettes for the colonel.

M. Jalil advised us to use this contact, if possible, to obtain information about the state of affairs at the fronts. We knew that Gilmanov had a receiver.

During this conversation, M. Jalil said that it was necessary to send two propagandists with lectures to the Tatar units located in Poland. “To you, Ivan, we entrust the following topic: tell your relatives about the origin of the Chuvash. Good topic, the lecture can be prepared in such a way that it does not touch on modern politics, etc. ”

I began to object: they say, I don’t know the history of the origin of the Chuvash at all, I have never been interested in this. Jalil replied: “Study literature and you will know everything. You will have access to the Berlin Library. First of all, get acquainted with the works of Professor Ashmarin. Then he explained how to use the catalog.

And he said to Yangurazov: “You are a geographer, so prepare a lecture on the geographical position of the regions where the Tatars and Bashkirs live.”

At the end, he added that in the evenings we would look into Russian restaurants in Berlin. From the Russian there is one sign, but our compatriots gather there. Your task is to sit, listen and remember who is going there.

Having received the certificate, we became "scientific workers". I re-read Ashmarin's small book in the Berlin Library several times and made a summary. Rummaged through the works of Academician Marr. I found and read the poem "Narspi" translated by Pettoka.

We worked in the library until lunch, then went about our business. Most often visited their friends in the camps. Of the new friends, I could name a Chuvash named Tolstov, who works at the Siemens plant. When it was not possible to meet a friend or a “ferloben” (bride), they had to be called through the watch. Then certificates of "scientific workers" were used.

Regularly visited Russian restaurants. Emigrants, Vlasovites, Cossacks often looked into these establishments. A Russian choir performed there, Russian jazz played.

Once, in the Troika restaurant, a tipsy old woman sat down with us. She began to explain that she was a landowner from the Samara province. She kept asking if the estate would be returned to her if the Germans won. We sarcastically replied that they would return, even the interest would be rolled off. She began to sob.

Once we saw Ataman Shkuro - a small, frail old man with a red mustache. He walked with all the regalia with a sword on his side, accompanied by his retinue. Reminds me of a cocky rooster.

At the end of May, news came from the legion: Satarov, a special correspondent for Idel-Ural, fled with a group of 5-6 people. An investigation has begun. Almaz, Sultan and others left for the scene. This incident gave rise to a reorganization in the command of the legion. All the key positions were taken by the Germans, we became assistant executives. The Legion was reinforced with a special company, the Gestapo department was strengthened. From this, Jalil concluded: Satarov was in a hurry.

One of the variants of the "Idel-Ural" patch

Latinized alphabet was not accepted

In June 1943, the first Allied air raid on Berlin took place. According to German newspapers, up to five hundred bombers took part in the bombing. They threw mostly incendiary bombs. The streets adjacent to the center were on fire. There was a terrible panic. There was nothing left of fascist self-confidence. People prayed and cursed everyone, right down to Hitler. Then I realized how unstable the rear of the enemy is.

Our lectures were ready, read and approved by M. Jalil. After checking, the German informed us that we would soon perform in the rest house in front of the legionnaires. But the departure did not take place. A young Chuvash Kadyev (Kadeev - Ed.) arrived to mediate. He was summoned from somewhere by an employee of the Eastern Ministry, Benzing, who at one time defended his dissertation on the material of the Chuvash language. It turns out they've known each other for a long time. Being in the camp since 1942, Kadyev helped Benzing learn the Chuvash spoken language. The purpose of his visit is to start editing the Chuvash section of the Idel-Ural newspaper.

A few days later, another boy arrived - Vasily Izosimov, who graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages. He was a foreman or company clerk, he was taken prisoner in 1941. He was very helpful to us, carefully carried out our tasks.

Yangurazov and I were summoned to Berlin. Before the trip, M. Jalil warned: after Satarov's escape, special supervision was established for everyone. The next day, the legionnaires were gathered to the square, where we gave our lectures. Then the ceremony of taking the oath of the third and fourth battalions took place in the presence of the mullah, who was sitting with the Koran. After each paragraph, he shouted: “Ant item” (I swear). The front rows repeated, and in the back they shouted obscene things in rhyme.

After the ceremony, a dinner was held in honor of those who took the oath. Then a meeting took place in a Christian company - with the Chuvash, Mordovians, Udmurts and Mari. There were 150 people in the company. There I met Fyodor Dmitrievich Blinov, who later bore the surname of his theatrical nickname - Paimuk. He came from a wealthy merchant family. By profession - an economist, graduated from the Moscow Institute. Plekhanov. Terrible nationalist! Everyone rushed about with the idea of ​​creating an independent Chuvash state. Tatars could not stand. Despite the fact that he was among them for more than six months, he did not know a single Tatar word. He expressed his contempt for them frankly. He insisted on the transfer of Christian companies under the authority of Vlasov.

By this time, a Chuvash page appeared in Idel-Ural, which was difficult to read (Kadiev and I, with the participation of Dr. Benzing, developed an alphabet based on Latin letters). On this occasion, Jalil laughed for a long time: “You can’t think of a better one, Ivan. Let them waste paper, keep compositors, and the result is a donut hole. And Paimuk attacked me, accusing me of mockery of the people. He insisted that a separate newspaper be published in Russian. “What kind of nationalists are we if we read in Russian,” I answered him. “As for the alphabet, this issue is not subject to discussion, because it was approved by the minister himself.”

Then I received many letters from him complaining about the newspaper, about the Tatars, about the emblem, until he came to Berlin to edit the Russian newspaper Free Word.

I had a chance to see how the legionnaires were armed. We visited tactical exercises, at the training ground. I met my fellow villager Andrei - still quite young. I learned from him that all my brothers had gone to the front from the very first days of the war. We talked heart to heart. When asked what to do next, he advised: upon arrival at the front, turn your weapons against the Nazis and go to your own. And he warned me: be careful "with a long elderly Chuvash" (we were talking about Paimuk).

In the evening there was an amateur concert. Some recognized me by the first prayer, they approached me and had a casual conversation. Here the servants of the Gestapo were spinning.

We arrived in Berlin, occupying a separate car. My fellow villager Andrei was also with the legionnaires. Jalil was waiting for us at the mediation office. He sat in a straw hat, in a white shirt and wrote down something in a notebook.

When they told how they took the oath, that they were shouting in the back rows, he burst out laughing: “That’s cool, that’s great ...”

Then he said that the legionnaires would rest in a newly organized camp in Pomerania. They will be served by their own people, for this purpose 10 people are sent there, among them is an undesirable type Gunafin S., who was appointed head of this camp. He also advised me to get acquainted with the old man Yagofarov. We learned with joy that the German offensive in the Kursk direction had bogged down, that many commanders of the fronts and armies had been removed. He ordered me to inform my camp friends about this.

In the rest home, fate brought me together with Nafikov, Anzhigitov, Khalitov. Subsequently, in June 1945, it was next to them that I had to sit on the bench of the military tribunal and, as the leader, answer for myself, and for them, and for all the activities of the nationalist organization in Berlin. Then, while in the death chamber in Brest-Litovsk, forgetting that he was sentenced to death, he argued with them to the point of hoarseness, defending Soviet power and the collective farm system.

One day (I don't remember the date) I came home late. The hostess said that there was a guest, she was waiting for me for 20-30 minutes, saying that we were friends. By the way I described him (dense, short, black-haired), I understood: Jalil was waiting for me. He urgently needed me, but at 10 pm I could not leave.

In the morning, Jalil came up to me when I was standing at the Temple Bridge and reading the morning edition of the Berliner Zeitung. As always, he was in a black suit, in a white shirt with a Russian-style turn-down collar, without a hat. I remember his lively eyes. He was cheerful. He demanded a detailed account of my trip to Dresden. Then we talked about who to send there for permanent work. He ordered me to tell Yangurazov that Berlin, in any case, remains with us along with the colonel. Why is the Colonel here? I didn't ask about this. I think they were in close contact even earlier when they were in the camp.

This time we talked to him on different topics. He asked if I knew Chuvash writers and poets. I said that in my youth I personally knew Y. Ukhsay, but I had not seen Khuzangai, but I know one of his poems. He admitted that I know Chuvash literature poorly.

From the dossier of the legion

What did capture look like? There are a lot of cases that are similar to each other and not very much. A typical scenario: tens and hundreds of thousands of warriors ended up in huge encirclement cauldrons and, having lost all possibility of resistance, hungry, exhausted, without ammunition, became a crowd. There are many photographs of those years, seized from the Germans: our soldiers look like a faceless mass with their hands up or wander under the protection of a few escorts.

Many were captured in battle, being wounded, shell-shocked, unable to resist, to use their weapons. Many cases are described when soldiers, trying to break through to their own groups, were captured. Often circumstances forced commanders to disband their units and subunits so that people could break through from the encirclement.

There were many cases when the troops were deprived of the most necessary, starved and, under the psychological influence of the enemy, went over to his side.

According to the German historian I. Hoffman, at least 80 Soviet pilots flew to the side of Germany on their planes. Of these, a group was formed under the command of the former Soviet colonel V. Maltsev, which participated in the hostilities along with three Estonian and two Latvian air squadrons.

During the war, the soldiers ran across to the side of the enemy. It is believed that the number of defectors captured in the first year of the war was no more than 1.4-1.5%. Subsequently, this figure decreased. Of the 38 transit camps operating in the zone of the German Army Group Center, two were designed specifically for defectors.

According to the Internet.

According to the data available in the archives, the formation of the so-called national legions from prisoners of war was typical for all camps. At first, the recording of volunteers was announced, but since there were not enough of them, they were recorded forcibly, under the threat of death.

This is how the battalions of the Idel-Ural Legion were formed by "volunteers". The Germans divided the camp into two parts. In one, hundreds of prisoners were still dying of starvation and typhus. In another - the so-called semi-legion - three meals a day were introduced. To join the semi-legion, no subscription was required, not even verbal consent. It was enough just to move from one half of the camp to the other. Many could not stand such "visual" agitation.

Convinced that the formation of the legion was going too slowly, the Germans simply drove the Tatar, Bashkir and Chuvash prisoners from the place of formation and announced that from now on they were all “eastern volunteers”. Observing the uniform, the German officer asked through an interpreter who did not want to serve in the legion. There were also those. They were immediately taken out of action and shot in front of the rest.

Lieutenant General X. Helmich rewards legionnaires

Failure

After a four-day stay at the rest home, I was urgently called to Berlin. I was supposed to be met, but I decided to get off where passenger trains usually do not stop, but this time, for some reason, the driver made an exception. The owner of the apartment upset me by saying that I had been searched, that she had been interrogated.

In the office where I came, they were perplexed: they say they were looking for me, they didn’t find me, but then I myself appeared.

Soon I was summoned for interrogation: when and where did I meet with Jalil, what kind of relationship did I have with Bulatov, Shabaev. The interrogation lasted four hours. After signing that I would not tell anyone about the conversation, they told me to wait. Then the secretary came out and, quietly congratulating, said that I was beyond suspicion. What happened to Jalil, where is he now? These questions swirled in my head.

Later, the circumstances of the failure became known. Jalil arrived at the legion with leaflets, in the evening he convened an underground meeting, where the provocateur penetrated. The Gestapo learned about the meeting. The underground workers were covered in full force: they found leaflets printed on our rotary machine. 27 people were arrested, including the provocateur.

I confess that Yangurazov and I were confused, did not know what to do next in order to develop the business we had begun. And from the bottom there were questions: what to do, how to explain to people the defeat of the center? It was necessary to direct the work along the established channel, we had no right to stop the struggle begun by Jalil.

On the fourth day after the failure, we held a meeting of the remaining center. We decided to wait ten days to see how events around the arrested would develop. All grassroots organizations were instructed to stop all communication for a while. Yangurazov was instructed to talk with Colonel Alkayev, whether he would agree to head the military department of mediation, and this position should have been used to continue the work of Jalil and his friends.

Significant events took place after Jalil's arrest. Group shoots of legionnaires became more frequent. On the Eastern Front, the 4th battalion completely went over to the Red Army, and the 3rd was surrounded and disarmed. Two more battalions had to be transferred to the category of a working unit, the Germans were afraid to trust the soldiers with weapons. All this was the result of the painstaking work of Jalil.

Eh, Musa, you taught me not to be afraid of death, you said: “Having passed several deaths, there is nothing to shake before the last one.”

kurultai

It is planned to convene a kurultai (congress) on October 23 or 25, where they must approve the decision on the creation of the Volga-Tatar Committee. On the recommendation of Professor F. Mende, I should be elected a member of the committee there and instructed to head the national department.

They learned the news from the colonel: a connection was established with the German anti-fascists. True, they are not communists, but social democrats. They have a printed organ, they have a lot of Russians with them! Anti-fascists are aware of the misfortune that befell M. Jalil's group.

Dozens of prisoners of war from France and Poland arrived at the kurultai in the old university Greifswald. All hotels are occupied by the commanding staff of the delegates. For privates reserved places in the barracks. The colonel and I were given a separate room in a hotel.

Unit commanders come to us one after another, I already know many of them. They are glad to see me and get acquainted with Alkaev. The colonel is a very interesting, highly erudite person, at the same time simple and accessible. Knows Vatutin, Konev, Rokossovsky well. After graduating from the academy Frunze served as chief of staff of a division in the Kyiv Special Military District when Vlasov commanded there, then he was replaced by Konev. He was taken prisoner wounded and shell-shocked.

Kurultai took place on October 25, 1943. Shafi Almaz made a report on the goals and objectives of the Volga-Tatar Committee. There were no other people who wanted to go to the podium. Therefore, we immediately proceeded to the election of committee members. At the suggestion of Sh. Almaz, a governing body was created from 12 people, I was elected head of the financial department.

Memorial to the victims of Nazism at the site of the Plötzensee military prison in Berlin, where Musa Jalil and other 10 legionnaires were executed on August 25, 1944 for underground anti-Nazi activities

Visiting an old professor

At the end of March 1944 we went on a business trip to Czechoslovakia - Prague. Paimuk obtained an audience with Professor F. Mende and received permission to go to the Chuvash Professor Semyon Nikolaev, an emigrant, a professor at the University of Prague. He had already written a letter to him from the camp.

In Prague, the professor's house was quickly found. Semyon Nikolaevich burst into tears when he heard his native speech. The evening was spent culturally. There were a lot of dishes on the table, but there was nothing to eat. The schnapps I brought with me loosened my tongues. It was only then that I realized why this extravagant Paimuk, who had worked in high positions before the war, had brought me here. He wanted to coordinate with the professor the options for the coat of arms of Chuvashia.

The glass has done its job. But the professor guessed that there were disagreements between us, he did not let the dispute flare up. He asked how the Chuvash live. I figuratively painted that tractors and combines work in the fields, that schools with 10-year education are open in all large villages, that there is no difference between Russians and Chuvashs. Paimuk tried to object, but I cut him off saying that he did not work among the Chuvash at all.

The professor emigrated long before the revolution. I personally knew Lenin, met him in France and Switzerland. At the Prague Conference, he supported the platform of the Mensheviks, stayed here and got a job as an assistant professor at the university, and got married.

As for the coat of arms, he answered Paimuk: it is gratifying that you support the Chuvash, and the coat of arms is needed when there is a state. But you must fight so that this people retains its freedom and language, and culture takes root, all the more, as Mr. Skobelev claims, there are successes in this respect, etc.

The next day I got sick. The use of schnapps has affected. And Paimuk went to see the city.

The professor and his wife Tessie started asking about the Soviet Union, Stalin. Frankly, life in captivity, communication with different people made me a politically erudite person. I didn’t lose face when talking about the Soviet people: they say, how the country flourished, how well and freely it lived, how all nations, including the Chuvash, were equal. He added that before you is a typical representative of our people. Then I again saw the old man, the professor, crying.

The next day I got out of bed. Together with the professor and his wife, we went sightseeing in Prague.

They returned to Berlin with nothing. Paimuk was angry with me because I had discredited him in the eyes of the professor. I reported to the chiefs that the professor did not recommend abandoning the common coat of arms of Idel-Ural, since the Chuvashs will become part of the Volga-Tatar state, there is no need to have their own coat of arms. They agreed with my opinion and showed Paimuk a “fig”.

According to the Internet.

It must be admitted, however paradoxical it may seem, the well-known orders No. 270 (August 1941) and 227 (July 1942) brought "clarity" to the minds of many prisoners of war. Having learned that they were already "traitors" and that their bridges had been burned, as well as having learned the "charms" of the fascist camps, they naturally began to think what to do. To die behind barbed wire or?.. And here the propagandists, German and from their former ones, are agitating to join the Ostlegions, promising normal food, uniforms and liberation from the daily debilitating camp terror.

It is known that the mentioned orders were caused by extremely crisis situations. But they, especially No. 270, pushed a certain part of the bewildered hungry people (not without the help of agitators) to join the German armed formations. It must be borne in mind that the Germans subjected recruited candidates to some kind of test, giving preference to those who managed to prove their disloyalty to the Soviet regime. There were also those who slandered themselves in order to survive.

And, finally, we should mention the executions of prisoners of war. At the same time, any political considerations were completely ignored. So, in many camps, for example, all "Asians" were shot.

When joining the "Eastern troops", the prisoners of war proceeded from each of their goals. Many wanted to survive, others wanted to turn their weapons against the Stalinist regime, still others wanted to break free from German rule, go over to their own people and turn their weapons against the Germans.

Badges for the personnel of the eastern formations were made according to the model of badges for German soldiers. The numbers 4440 indicate the serial number, the letters Frw - the rank, in this case - Freiwillige - volunteer (i.e. private). 2/828 WOLGATAT. LEG. - 2nd company of the 828th battalion of the Volga-Tatar Legion.

Among the ruins of Berlin

Work became easier. The total mobilization took all the guards of the camps to the front, their places were taken by the elderly and the crippled. The Ostarbeiters hide their badges, which might come in handy when the time comes to expose the Nazis. The campsites are free to enter. The unity of the people has increased. People began to slowly arm themselves.

German morale began to decline. This was especially noticeable after the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler.

A Polish uprising broke out in Warsaw. The Anglo-American troops landed. After the air raids, ruins remain in the residential areas of Berlin.

It became difficult with food, rations were reduced to a minimum. The black market is thriving. More and more leaflets of German anti-fascists began to appear on the walls.

But the Nazi machine continued to work.

Tatar nationalists began to spawn. Three of them joined the SS troops, having received the rank of Orbersturmführer (St. Lieutenant of the SS). Others marry German women. To some extent, I had to share the fate of the latter.

Sonia Fazliakhmetova, my main contact, had to be left in Berlin at all costs. The Gestapo said: now, if they were husband and wife ... Sonia agrees. Soon they got married. After losing their shelter, they found a basement with an iron stove and a chimney, settled down there. So they lived until the end of March. Sonia, although she became a wife, remained a girl.

At the beginning of April, an order was received to evacuate all institutions from Berlin, including our committee. I told Yangurazov that I would not go anywhere. He grabbed the suitcases and quickly took Sonia away. We went to Charlottenburg, where Sh. Almaz's apartment used to be and where M. Jalil used to live. Everything was destroyed there, except for the garage, where there was a bed and an iron stove. By the light of a burning stove they ate, made a bed, and after a six-month marriage, for the first time, they lay down side by side. From that night, Sonia actually became my wife.

Troops poured into Berlin. They began to build barricades and fortifications in the streets.

With the onset of night, the prisoners leave for the east. I consult with Yagofarov: the most dangerous legionnaires should be locked up.

On April 28, at 10 o'clock, Soviet intelligence came, asked the route, and moved on. Then the main forces began to approach, the staff officers appeared.

The general yells with a good obscenity: what kind of institution, who is in charge? Having received an exhaustive answer, he lined up people, looked and gave the command: take me to counterintelligence, and the rest will be escorted by the commandant's platoon. That's how I met mine.

Monument to Musa Jalil in Kazan

Death sentence commuted to 10 years in prison

Beatings began in the counterintelligence departments of the division and the army. They accepted testimony only about hostile activity, everything else is a fairy tale. M. Jalil and underground work are inventions.

Then a speedy court-martial of the 65th Army took place. The case of "traitors to the Motherland Skobelev and his group" was heard. Applications were not accepted. The only question of the court: do you plead guilty? The answer was no. Me, Nafikov and Izmailov (or Ismailov) were sentenced to death.

But not only in the tribunal, but also in the Ministry of State Security in Cheboksary, they did not want to hear about anything other than treasonous activity. The verdict was final and not subject to appeal. He did not ask for pardon, although he was called three times in 24 hours. Tired, broken down. I wanted to die. There would be forces to fight the enemy, but there were our own.

The sentence was not carried out, they were sent to the prison of Brest-Litovsk. There he gave evidence to a representative of the Supreme Military Collegium, who wrote down everything without any objections. A couple of months later, a decision came to commute the death sentence to 10 years in prison.

I was taken from Brest to the inner prison of the MGB, where I spent more than a year in solitary confinement. Conditions here were no better than in the counterintelligence of the army. After all that I have experienced, we can conclude that a person is very tenacious.

Yangurazov and Colonel Alkaev were tried together. They gave me 10 years without loss of rights. I met the first one in the transit prison in the city of Orsha. He didn't recognize me. After a few replicas, everything was restored in his memory and he began to cry.

Sonia has been waiting for me for a long time. She returned to Krasnodon. In the repatriation camps, officers molested her and hindered her departure. I asked her not to wait for me, because there was no certainty that I would survive this nightmare. At that time, there was arbitrariness in the camps, and not only on the part of the administration, but also on the part of thieves and crooks.

One by one, acquaintances from the legion and the working battalion began to gather in the camp: Maksimov, Aleksandrov, Izosimov and others, who were sentenced to 25 years. I pulled myself together, gathered 30 people, became a foreman and did not allow anyone to be offended.

Sonia married in 1957 and had two children. I don't write to her and I don't let her know. I looked for Yangurazov in Ufa, but did not find him. I don't know anything about Izosimov either.

Leonid Naumovich, you are asking if I was rehabilitated? No. I didn't write anywhere. I was afraid that I would again run into callous people who work according to a stencil. Fate was nevertheless kind to me: I am alive and can tell people about Jalil, Alishev, Samaev and other heroes. People passed from mouth to mouth my stories about M. Jalil and his comrades who fought against fascism in their lair. Among the Chuvash and Tatars, I am held in high esteem and respect. The latter call me "Ivan Efendi".

I would like such people as Vasily Izosimov, Tikhon Egorov, Ivan Sekeyev, Alexei Tolstov, not to mention my beloved friend Saidulmuluk Gimrailovich Yangurazov, with whom I became related, to be rehabilitated. I can say that in the difficult struggle in captivity there were people who risked more than I did. Where are they, my faithful assistants - Sonia, Paradise from Donbass and Maria from Krasnodar, Sailor (I don’t remember the name) with her fearless team.

I would like to return to the party, but, alas, the road there is now thorny.

In recent years, under the guise of our underground, many write and refer to me as the main organizer of work after Jalil. But I don't ask myself for anything.

I was indignant about an article in Pravda Vostoka (December 1968), which was written by an associate professor from Tashkent (I don’t remember his last name). There were people who cling to the name of Jalil.

Now I believe that Michurin was a traitor. He was arrested along with Jalil's group. Those who ended up in a German prison did not leave without betrayal. He eventually joined the ranks of the French resistance. Just think, this rat escape from a sinking ship is presented in the Pravda Vostoka newspaper as a heroic deed.

I would like the Tatar comrades involved in the legacy of M. Jalil not to believe such versions. The structure of the organization of the underground was the five system. Not a single person knew the members of the other five. The lower classes did not know M. Jalil as an organizer and leader of the underground.

I find it hard to believe that, having arrived at the legion accompanied by Sultan Fakhretdinov, he would have risked holding an underground meeting. And it is hard to believe that the leaflets, so skillfully hidden among the materials prepared for the Germans, would have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo on the same night. I am still inclined to think that Jalil was betrayed by one of the authoritative persons whom he trusted, hoping for his education and army rank.

How Michurin sucked up to Colonel Alkaev, who we needed after the execution of Musa. But he was not very happy to be with him in a close relationship. He warned that this person has very dubious traits in character.

The other day I watched the feature film "Moabite Notebooks". The plot line is true. But there are embellishments, a lot of inaccurate data about Jalil's stay in Berlin. His friends who helped him work in the den of the Nazis, who formed the core of the underground, are not shown at all. Much attention is paid to everyday life during the stay with Sh. Almaz, as well as to a beautiful lady who was not there. Jalil and Alishov refused to edit the newspaper, but cooperated with the editorial office, otherwise they would not have been left free. The work of the poet among the Ostarbeiters is absolutely not shown. Therefore, the picture turned out to be scanty, many do not even understand why he was executed.

Prepared

Valery ALEKSIN

On July 16, 1941, at a meeting of the German top leadership with the participation of Hitler, Rosenberg, Keitel, Goering and Lammers, it was stated: “The iron rule must become and remain: No one should be allowed to bear arms, except the Germans! And this is especially important, even if at first it may seem easy to attract any foreign, subject peoples to military assistance - all this is wrong! Someday it will necessarily, inevitably be turned against us. Only a German is allowed to bear arms, not a Slav, not a Czech, not a Cossack or a Ukrainian!”

It was said, as we see, was very categorical and, it would seem, there should not be and will not be a revision of this strict ban. But by the end of 1941 and during 1942. tens of thousands of representatives of the peoples of the USSR were placed under the banners of the Wehrmacht. In a hurry, the Eastern Legions were formed from them, the main impetus for the creation of which was given by the obvious failure of the blitzkrieg plan.

As other important circumstances that contributed to the creation of the Eastern Legions, the following can be distinguished:

- The presence of a huge number of Soviet prisoners of war in the hands of Germany.

- Carrying out active German propaganda among the population of the occupied regions of the USSR and against the advanced units of the Red Army. This led to the fact that many representatives of the civilian population of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States collaborated with the Germans. Also, a considerable number of soldiers and officers of the Red Army went over to the German side, especially in the first period of the war.

- The position of some foreign countries that demanded more humane treatment, at least in relation to Turkic, Muslim prisoners of war. Turkish politicians showed the greatest interest in this issue. This should also include the activation of emigrant leaders from the representatives of the peoples of the USSR with the beginning of the war.

When the Blitzkrieg plan failed, these factors influenced the position of the German leadership. And it, despite the difference in points of view and serious contradictions between the leaders and the highest state and military institutions of the Reich, decided to use the circumstances in its own interests.

From February 18, 1942, the headquarters for the creation of the Eastern Legions was located in Poland, in the city of Rembertov, in the summer of the same year, under the name "Headquarters of the Eastern Legions" was transferred to the city of Radom, on January 23, 1943 it became known as the Command of the Eastern Legions.

The Volga-Tatar Legion (or the Idel-Ural Legion) was created later than all the others. Although, in fact, representatives of the peoples of the Volga region were separated into special prefabricated camps already in the autumn-winter of 1941–1942. For the first time, in the documents at our disposal, the creation of the Volga-Tatar Legion refers to July 1, 1942 - on this day, information about the emerging legions was sent to various authorities, among which the Volga-Tatar Legion was mentioned. On August 1, 1942, an order was issued from Hitler's headquarters, signed by Chief of Staff Keitel, to create, in addition to the existing legion, consisting of Volga (Kazan) Tatars, Bashkirs, Tatar-speaking Chuvash, Mari, Udmurts and Mordovians. The order ordered to separate the representatives of these peoples into special camps, to intensify work with the recruitment of prisoners of war. It was noted that the status of the Volga-Tatar Legion is exactly the same as that of previously created similar formations, that the use of the legion is envisaged in areas of military operations, but especially in areas of partisan operations.

Keitel's order was like an order from above, and the practical order of the Wehrmacht High Command was signed on August 15, 1942. It already contained more specific instructions:

"one. Create a legion of Tatars, Bashkirs and Tatar-speaking peoples of the Volga region;

2. Tatars assigned to the Turkestan Legion, transferred to the Volga-Tatar Legion;

3. Tatar prisoners of war should be urgently separated from the rest and sent to the Siedlce camp (on the Warsaw-Brest railway line). Place them at the disposal of the Military Commander in the General Government (Militärbefehlshaber im General-Gouvernement);

4. The created legion should be used primarily in the fight against partisans.

Practical work on the creation of the Volga-Tatar Legion began on August 21, 1942. The camp in Edlino near Radom was chosen as the place of its formation, where uniforms and weapons for the legion were received. German responsible personnel also arrived here. The Siedlce camp, located near Jedlino, had previously become a collection point for prisoners of war from the Turkic peoples.

The banner of the Volga-Tatar Legion was awarded on September 6, 1942, so the legionnaires themselves considered this day to be the date of the final formation of the unit.

On September 8, 1942, the Volga-Tatar Legion was transferred under the command of the headquarters of the Eastern Legions and the commander of the military district in the "governor general".

The prisoners of war of the Tatars concentrated mainly in the Siedlce A camp, from where they were sent for training in the legion in Jedlino. Subsequently, the camp in Dęblin (Stalag 307) also played the role of a preliminary camp. And at the beginning of 1944, after the transfer of the Eastern Legions to France, the general preliminary camp was in Legionowo near Warsaw, since March 1944 - again in Siedlce B (Stalag 366) and in the Nekhrybka camp (Stalag 327). A rather elderly and experienced military man, Major Oscar von Seckendorf, was appointed commander of the Volga-Tatar Legion. He was born on June 12, 1875 in Moscow, spoke Russian, English, French, and Chinese well; worse command of Ukrainian and Spanish. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel.

According to the available documents, it can be judged that Seckendorf, despite his age, quite energetically set to work, most of all paying attention to the combat training of legionnaires. Perhaps one of the most serious problems for him (as well as for other German organizers of the Eastern Legions) was the problem of training national officer cadres, which, by the way, was not resolved until the end of the war, although it was raised more than once.

According to the plan, the first of the battalions of the Volga-Tatar Legion, which received the number 825, was to be created by December 1, 1942, but it was formed even a little earlier - on November 25. The date for the formation of the 826th battalion was December 15, 1942, the 827th - January 1, 1943. In fact, this happened, respectively, on January 15 and February 10, 1943. In the surviving documents, all three battalions are first mentioned on November 3, 1942 . as being created .

The Tatar battalions, which were created in Poland, in Jedlino, under the control and jurisdiction of the command of the Eastern Legions in the German armed forces, and which are described in detail on the basis of available documents, were not the only ones. Most likely, with individual armies or army groups, other Tatar formations were created in parallel or later, for example, during 1944. Among them were combat, construction, and supply units.

825th battalion. This is the most famous of all created Tatar battalions. Major Tsek was appointed commander of the battalion. The exact number of Tatar legionnaires in this battalion is not indicated in the surviving documents, but, comparing it with other similar formations, we can assume that there were about 900 people in it.

The 825th battalion is known primarily for its armed action against the Germans at the end of February 1943. This fact is widely known in Russian publicistic literature. It happened in the following way.

Apparently, on February 14, 1943, the battalion was solemnly sent to the front: “Before the battalion left to fight the partisans in the village. A professor, whose last name is unknown, arrived from Berlin for a report. The report was made in a foreign language. In his report, the speaker called on the legions to destroy the Bolsheviks, (spoke) about the creation of a “Tatar state” by Hitler, about the creation of a new beautiful life, ”a source from the Belarusian partisans reported about the wires. On February 18, at night, the battalion arrived in Vitebsk, after which it was sent towards the village of Belynovichi along the Surazh highway. Then the main part of it was located in the village of Gralevo on the left bank of the Western Dvina. On February 21, representatives of the legionnaires contacted the partisans.

As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached that on February 22 at 23 o'clock a general uprising of the legion would be raised, and it would go over to the side of the partisans with weapons. Obviously, the Germans became aware of the plans of the underground, and an hour before the planned speech, arrests were made and the leaders of the uprising Zhukov, Tadzhiev and Rakhimov were captured. Then the commander of the headquarters company Khusain Mukhamedov took the initiative. A signal was given to almost all units of the battalion, located in different settlements in the neighborhood - an uprising began. Notify, according to the source, failed two platoons of the second company.

The legionnaires who crossed over were distributed in partisan brigades commanded by Zakharov and Biryulin.

So, the first entry into battle of the first unit of the Volga-Tatar Legion ended in failure for the German side. In German documents, albeit in a veiled form, the reasons for this are clearly visible: firstly, the activities of “individual intelligent Tatars” among the legionnaires, who organized the transition of the battalion to the side of the partisans, undoubtedly affected. Perhaps we are talking about the activities of Musa Jalil's group, or his predecessors, but in any case, the speech of the legionnaires was organized and prepared in advance. Secondly, despite all the same long-term indoctrination, the Germans really did not succeed in truly attracting the Tatar legionnaires to their side. The feeling of Soviet patriotism in them turned out to be stronger - the Germans, despite their efforts, remained "strangers" for the Tatar legionnaires, they saw "their own" in the Belarusian partisans.

Those former legionnaires who went over to the side of the partisans, apparently, almost immediately took part in the battles against the German army - they were especially intense on February 28, 1943 and were aimed at breaking the blockade. They continued to remain in the partisan formations in Belarus in the future. This is confirmed, for example, by the data of a letter from the Belarusian headquarters of the partisan movement dated July 2, 1943: “After the battalion transferred to the partisans, its personnel were indeed dispersed among partisan brigades, took part in hostilities against the German occupiers, showed themselves on the positive side. Some of the personnel of the battalion are still in partisan brigades to this day.

The legionnaires of the 825th battalion, who remained on the side of the Germans, were immediately sent to the rear after these events and assigned to other formations. The uprising of the 825th battalion became a cold shower for the German command. This event played a significant role in the further fate of the Eastern Legions.

826th battalion. The organization of the 826th battalion, planned for December 15, 1942, did not take place - it was formed in Yedlino on January 15, 1943. district of the city of Breda. Here, apparently, he carried out a security service, and was involved in other works. They clearly did not dare to involve the 826th battalion in any real military operations.

On September 1, 1943, the battalion may have been in France (there is no more precise indication), and on October 2, 1943, it was redeployed again to Holland, where it stayed throughout 1943 - early 1945.

R.A. Mustafin connects such an eloquent fact with the history of the 826th battalion - an uprising was prepared in the unit, but the German counterintelligence managed to thwart the plans of the underground. After that, 26 members of the underground organization were shot, two hundred people were transferred to a penal camp.

827th battalion. The battalion was created on February 10, 1943 in Yedlino. His field mail number was 43645A-E. The battalion commander was Captain Pram.

Since the end of June 1943, the 827th battalion, sent to fight the partisans, was in Western Ukraine. Here the legionnaires took part in several clashes with the partisans.

At the beginning of October 1943, the battalion was transferred to Lannion in France and was placed at the disposal of the 7th Army. In actions against partisans in Western Ukraine, the 827th battalion disappointed the German command. Moreover, the presence of the battalion in this territory strengthened the partisan detachments, because. many legionnaires ran over to them. But even after the transfer of the battalion to France, it did not become a “reliable” formation for the Germans, since here too many legionnaires went over to the French partisans.

828th battalion. This battalion was created in the period from April 1, 1943 and was finally formed on June 1, 1943. After the formation, the battalion was in Yedlino itself for quite a long time.

On September 28, 1943, the formation was sent to Western Ukraine to replace the 827th battalion, which turned out to be "unreliable". The hopes of the Germans for the newly arrived legionnaires were in vain. Sources testify with all obviousness - during the entire stay of the 828th battalion in Western Ukraine, many of the legionnaires defected to the partisans.

829th battalion. It was created on August 24, 1943 in Yedlino. Most likely, under the influence of failures with the first battalions, the 829th remained in Yedlino for quite a long time. But later the battalion was also moved to Western Ukraine.

The finale for the 829th battalion came pretty soon: by order of the commander of the military district in the "general government" of August 29, 1944, it was disbanded due to the increased incidence of "violations of discipline" in the battalion. All these activities were to be carried out before September 18, 1944. This is where the story of the 829th Tatar battalion ended.

830th battalion. There is no exact data on the day of formation of the 830th battalion. Although it is already mentioned in documents dated September 1, 1943, its existence on that day is doubtful, since even in a document dated October 26 it is referred to as "forming".

The Germans no longer dared to use the battalion against partisans: it carried out security service in various settlements in Western Ukraine and Poland. These transfers were carried out to test the "reliability" and combat effectiveness of the battalion, which the Germans aroused suspicion, and not without reason.

In June 1944, the Gestapo branch in Radom managed to reach one of the non-commissioned officers of the 830th battalion, who was looking for connections with "communist gangs." He, apparently, managed to organize 20 legionnaires in order to kill people from the German personnel on the night of June 17-18, open an arms depot, seize cars and run to the partisans with weapons. But on June 12 and 15, the initiators of the conspiracy, more than 20 people in all, were arrested. 17 of them, due to lack of evidence, were subsequently released by a military court. Representatives of the secret police considered that this decision was legally justified, but its consequences could be unpredictable, so it was recommended that the situation be discussed in detail with the commander of the eastern detachments.

It seems that at the final stage of the war, the 830th battalion existed as a construction and engineer battalion, at the beginning of 1945 it was stationed in the bend of the Vistula, and later in Pomerania.

831st Battalion. It was formed in the autumn of 1943 in Yedlino. Its existence is confirmed in the second half of October. As far as can be judged from the text of the document, he provided security for the main camp of the Volga-Tatar Legion in Yedlino. Approximately the same thing had to be done by the unit in February 1944, when it was in Legionowo near Warsaw. There are no other references to the 831st battalion in known sources.

Creation of battalions of the Volga-Tatar Legion by serial numbers 832, 833, 834 was planned for the autumn of 1943. Most likely, they were never formed. We could not find any references that would really confirm the existence of these Tatar battalions.

On September 29, 1943, Hitler ordered the transfer of all Eastern volunteers from East to West, and this was reflected in the order of the German General Staff of October 2, 1943 (No. 10570/43) on the transfer of the Eastern Legions from Poland to France at the disposal of the commander Army Group West in the city of Nancy. The redeployment was supposed to be carried out in the following order:

1. Georgian legion; 2. North Caucasian legion; 3. Command of the Eastern Legions; 4. Officers' school in Legionovo; 5. Volga-Tatar legion and school of translators; 6. Armenian legion; 7. Turkestan legion; 8. Azerbaijani legion. Thus, it was not about absolutely all the eastern battalions, some of them remained at the place of service. All command structures of the Eastern Legions, the so-called main camps, and part of the battalions were transferred to France.

To carry out this large-scale event, a special liquidation headquarters was created under the command of Colonel Möller. The order stipulated by the order was generally observed. For example, the main camp and the command of the Volga-Tatar Legion left Yedlino on October 19, 1943, and the command and headquarters of the Eastern Legions set off on October 24. Transportation was carried out by special military echelons and very hastily. And yet, in the first half of November 1943, the redeployment was basically completed: on March 1, 1944, according to official figures, the commander of Army Group West had 61,439 foreigners and Eastern volunteers at his disposal.

The command of the Eastern Legions in France in October 1943 was located in the city of Nancy (East France), but already at the end of November it was transferred further south to the city of Millau. Most likely, due to the unfavorable development of the military situation for the Germans, on March 15, 1944, the command of the eastern formations from Millau returned to Nancy again (we are talking about the former command of the Eastern Legions, and not about the command of all volunteer formations).

At the beginning of 1944, a serious restructuring of formations from the eastern peoples took place in France, which, most likely, was aimed at strengthening control over them and achieving their maximum combat readiness. Here, in February 1944, a new structure was formed, called the Main Volunteer Division (Freiwilligen Stamm Division) with a center in Lyon and under the command of Colonel Holst at first. At the end of March 1944, Holste was replaced by Major General von Henning. The named division was divided into a number of regiments on a national basis, including formations from Russians, Ukrainians and Cossacks. The Volga-Tatar Legion, whose command was located in the city of Le Puy, belonged to the 2nd Regiment, and the unit continued to be called the Volga-Tatar Legion as part of the 2nd Regiment.

The eastern battalions stationed in different countries and regions of Western Europe were intended not only for the defense of the Atlantic Wall, but also, just as in the East, for the fight against partisans. So, for example, in the German action against the French poppies in the department of Chantal in early June 1944, three companies from the Volga-Tatar Legion took part, in early August, units of the Volga-Tatar Legion participated in the same actions in the areas of the settlements of Issoire and Rochefort ( near the city of Clermont-Ferrand).

The Eastern legions in France generally showed the same qualities as before in the Ukraine.

Stable "unreliability" was demonstrated by units of the Volga-Tatar Legion. On July 13, 1944, the field commandant's office 588 in Clermont-Ferrand clearly stated with bitterness in its summary: "The reconnaissance group of the Tatar legion could not achieve anything more than to catch a few previously fled Armenian legionnaires." On the night of July 29-30, 1944, one Russian officer and 78 legionnaires of the Volga-Tatar Legion, according to the same commandant's office, ran over to the partisans, and the rest were immediately returned to the barracks. There are many such examples, when the eastern legionnaires defected to the partisans in the last period of the war. Many such cases have already become widely known from publications in our press.

Most of the battalions of the Eastern Volunteers on the Western Front were divided and distributed to different areas and attached to larger German formations. This isolation from each other, no doubt, even more noticeably increased the feeling of confusion, depression among the majority of the legionnaires. So, in general, the use of the Eastern Legions in Western Europe did not bring the desired results for the Germans. Many of the legionnaires were very afraid of being captured by the advancing Soviet troops, preferring in the end to be captured by the allies. But even for the latter, the fate turned out to be unenviable: according to agreements between the USSR and the allied powers, all Soviet citizens who fell into the hands of the British and American troops were subsequently transferred to the Soviet side. They returned to their native land, where in most cases severe punishment awaited them.

Thus, we see that the German plans to use units from representatives of the Turkic peoples of the USSR, including the Tatars, which were especially active in 1942-1944, ended in failure. Undoubtedly, the underground anti-fascist groups that arose among the Eastern legionnaires also played their role in the failure of the aspirations of the Nazis. One of the most famous such groups is the one led by Gainan Kurmashev and Musa Jalil. Apparently, this group began its activities at the end of 1942. It included, first of all, Tatar officers who were in German captivity. The underground workers set as their main goal the decomposition of the Idel-Ural legion from the inside and preparation for the uprising. To achieve their goal, they used the printing house of the Idel-Ural newspaper, published by the Eastern Minister of Germany especially for legionnaires since the autumn of 1942.

Gainan Kurmashev created and coordinated the work of the fives of the underground organization. Musa Jalil, who had the opportunity to move freely through the territory of Germany and Poland, organized campaigning among the legionnaires. Akhmet Simaev worked at the Vineta propaganda radio station, where he could receive information for the Resistance group and produce leaflets. Abdulla Alish, Akhat Atnashev and Zinnat Khasanov also took an active part in the production and distribution of leaflets.

It can be safely assumed that the battalions of the Idel-Ural legion did not live up to the expectations that the German command had placed on them, largely due to the activities of the underground members of the Kurmashev-Jalil group. Unfortunately, this activity was interrupted by German counterintelligence: in Berlin, underground workers were arrested on the night of August 11-12, 1943. In August 1943, about 40 people from the propaganda units of the Idel-Ural Legion were captured in August 1943.

After a lengthy investigation, the members of the Resistance were brought before the Imperial Court in Dresden. On February 12, 1944, by his decision, 11 people were sentenced to death. These are Musa Jalil, Gainan Kurmashev, Abdulla Alish, Akhmet Simaev, Akhat Adnashev, Abdulla Battalov, Fuat Bulatov, Salim Bukharov, Fuat Saifulmulukov, Zinnat Khasanov, Garif Shabaev. As the basis for the verdict in the text for all, “assistance to the enemy” and “undermining military power” are indicated. This wording allows us to reasonably assert that the Resistance group that existed in the Idel-Ural Legion caused serious damage to the Third Reich by its actions.

The execution of Tatar patriots by guillotining was carried out in the Plötzensee prison in Berlin on August 25, 1944. Gainan Kurmashev was the first to ascend the scaffold - at 12:06. The remaining members of the underground were executed at intervals of three minutes.

In Berlin, in the Museum of Resistance to Fascism, a memorial plaque with the names of the group members was opened in memory of the Tatar underground, and stands with materials about the heroes were installed in the Plötzensee prison.

I.A. Gilyazov

Der Prozeß gegen die Hauptkriegverbrecher vor dem Internationalen Militärgerichtshof. Nürnberg 1949, Bd. XXXVIII, Document 221-L, S. 88.

However, to attribute the creation of the Eastern Legions solely to the failure of the "blitzkrieg" plan is an oversimplification of the problem. This trend is clearly observed in our historiography (see, for example: Abdullin M.I. Fighting truth. Criticism of the bourgeois concepts of the development of the socialist nations of the Volga region and the Urals. - Kazan, 1985. - S. 44). Even the creation of commissions for the selection of Turkic prisoners of war is "adjusted" to the defeat of the Germans near Moscow, although such commissions, which will be discussed below, already existed in August-September 1941 (see, for example: Mustafin R.A. What motivated Jalil? // Tatarstan.- 1993. - No. 12.- P.73)

Hoffmann, Joachim. Die Ostlegionen 1941-1943. Turkotataren, Kaukasier und Wolgafinnen im deutschen Heer. Freiburg 1976, S.30-31.

Bundesarchiv des Beaufragten für die Unterlagen des Ministeriums der Staatssicherheit der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (hereinafter BStU-Zentralarchiv), RHE 5/88-SU, Bd.2, Bl. 143.

For sketchy biographical information on von Seckendorf, see Bundesarchiv-Potsdam, NS 31/45, Bl. 237; NS 31/55, Bl.27. In S. Drobyazko's book, his surname is distorted as Zickerdorf ( Drobyazko S.I.. under the banner of the enemy. Anti-Soviet formations in the German armed forces. 1941–1945 - M., 2004. - S. 151).