Changing surnames, he fought almost without interruption for twenty years - from Spain to Manchuria, from Finland to Belarus. He not only performed the most daring operations, but also trained others. Even his enemies respected him. Who was Stanislav Vaupshasov - in our article.
Bolshevik and NVO
The first step in the long career of a partisan and saboteur Stanislav Vaupshasov took in the turbulent years of the Civil War.
The son of a Lithuanian groom, Vaupshas, became a Vaupshasov by mistake of the police bailiff who issued the passport. An intelligent and strong young man was able to become a reinforcement fitter - to bend and cut rods for reinforced concrete. Then such a profession was a novelty, anyhow someone was not hired to work.
The young proletarian quite logically joined the Red Guard squad in the Lefortovo region, and then enrolled in the 3rd separate Moscow battalion. On the Western Front, red fighters ambushed Polish cavalry, suppressed rebellions …
In February 1920, Vaupshasov was first asked to partisan behind enemy lines. At that time, the Communists, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Jewish Social Democrats of Belarus and Lithuania entered into an unusual alliance, the "People's Military Self-Defense" - to beat the Poles. Iosif Unshlikht, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Western Front, enthusiastically approved the idea. This is how the Illegal Military Organization, NVO, arose.
The war was soon over. But not for everyone: Vaupshasov continued to fight partisans in Poland. "And what, it was possible?" Yes! In the twenties, neither Poland nor the USSR chose methods of struggle especially. Through the dividing lines (and then the border), detachments of interesting personalities regularly broke through in both directions - which officially did not exist.
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Photo: Joseph Nekhvedovich, leader of the underground in Western Belarus, and Stanislav Vaupshasov, his deputy, 1927.
The wild poverty of the Voskhodnyi Kreses, that is, Western Belarus and Ukraine, helped the Vaupshasov partisans. They executed the most cruel landowners, burned their estates, raided the police garrisons and even stopped trains. And the governor of Polesie was generally whipped with a whip.
One priest to the question "how did you get away from these red bandits?" answered: “Do the highway robbers behave like that? They are polite, disciplined, organized. Not a single hair fell from our head. Nobody was offended, hit or killed. " Xiondza was even called a communist.
But when on the night of January 7-8, 1925, another detachment of partisans, pressed by the Poles to the border, broke through in the USSR with a fight, they decided to curtail the uprising in Poland. Vaupshasov was very upset, but obeyed.
After studying and serving in the Red Army, a certain "comrade Alfred, a former colonel of the tsarist army" applied the rich experience of a partisan in distant Spain. Vaupshasov prepared several detachments. And the Spaniards "got used to obeying my advice," which was a miracle of miracles. However, the Spanish Republic fell.
Then - the Finnish war. A battalion of the NKVD troops headed by Vaupshasov cleaned the rear from saboteurs, removed mines, worked as a "conductor" of the troops …
From Moscow to Minsk
In his memoirs, Vaupshasov neatly wrote that "the news of the treacherous attack of Hitler's hordes on our Motherland found me outside the Soviet Union." For a year and a half he had been carrying out special assignments in Europe. What kind? Allegedly "lie on the sand, admire the fishermen." And the local church at the same time. The spire was probably beautiful. Where? Secret.
Photo: Mikhail Fedorovich Orlov, commander of the NKVD Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.
After long ordeals, the Vaupshases returned to their homeland through Turkey and Yugoslavia. And at home they say: get ready, you will command a detachment. A group of 80 people were already going to be thrown from planes into the enemy's rear - but then the battle for Moscow began, and the detachment was poured into the legendary OMSBON, a special purpose brigade.
After the victory at Moscow, the task changed. Now the detachment was to become the core of the partisan forces. We send only the elite - out of 32 people, eight already had orders.
The detachment included operational workers, border guards, the best athletes of the country. There were a lot of foreigners - Spaniards, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Czechs, Austrians, Poles, even Koreans.
Aleksey Lunkov, an experienced security officer, became the chief of staff of the detachment. In his memoirs, Vaupshasov mentioned that Lunkov "had already been in various alterations … with a good smile and graying temples" - Lunkov at that time was less than forty …
For obvious reasons, Vaupshasov could not directly say that in 1939 Lunkov was arrested and convicted. It was only in December 1941 that they decided to send him to the front - and even behind the front line. It seems that either Vaupshasov was given a complete "carte blanche" for personnel, or the situation was nowhere more serious. Perhaps both together.
Vaupshasov was told: "If you bring half of the detachment to Minsk, you will be a Hero." As a professional, he was offended and replied “I don’t agree with the loss of half of the personnel, and I don’t want to receive a Hero for that. I hope to bring the detachment with minimal casualties."
In the winter of 1942, Vaupshasov crossed the front and in the cold brought the detachment to the outskirts of Minsk. Losses - two wounded. At the expense of the entourage and local personnel, the detachment, with the most careful selection, grew to 50 people.
New wars, new tactics and new enemies
It was then that Vaupshasov- "Gradov" turned around! City underground workers blew up steam locomotives in the depot, carried a mine into the officers' mess. Forest guerrillas, after "advanced training" from professionals, derailed trains.
Photo: A group of partisans. In the first row (from left to right): Lieutenant Timofey Kuskov, Pyotr Vankevich, Konstanin Sermyazhko. In the second row: Maria Belezyako, Alexey Nikolaev. In the third row: Sergei Belokhvostik, Mikhail Epifin and N. Nikolsky.
The Gradov fighters were among the first to introduce new tactics: they did not just place one mine and leave, but buried three. And they undermined them at the same time, striking the entire composition. And after the explosion, they finished off the train with machine guns, grenades, and bottles with a combustible mixture. Enemy reinforcements were cut off, undermining the rails.
On July 6, 1944, Vaupshasov's special detachment with other partisans entered the liberated Minsk. A parade soon took place.
Photo: Meeting of the Vaupshasov detachment with the Red Army.
And on November 5, the most experienced partisan-saboteur became a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Vaupshasov continued to fight "in his specialty", but not with the Nazis. He became the head of the task force for clearing the rear in … Manchuria.
After the victory over Japan, Vaupshasov fought for many years with the Baltic nationalists. And again competently - he sent ultimatums to the field commanders. Surrender - amnesty for everyone. They will not surrender … Vaupshasov shot better.
Photo: Stanislav Vaupshasov.
Such was the fate of Stanislav Vaupshasov - an amazing person, a patriot and a true professional in his field.
EUGENE BELASH