The food supply of partisan units in Leningrad region (1941 - 1944)

The food supply of partisan units in the extraordinary conditions of the Great Patriotic War as the Red Army had to leave large territories of the USSR to the enemy became extremely important. The lack of food products caused famine among partisans bringing down their morale and fighting capacity. The article examines the food supply of partisan units operating on the occupied territories of Leningrad Region. Unpublished archive documents were used as a source base. The author reveals the sources and methods of food supply for partisans, i.e. food supply from the Soviet rear, voluntary aid from the population, confiscation, and food purchases, with the forms of food supply changing throughout the war and differing considerably from region to region. The hardest time for providing partisans with food was the beginning of the war, with food supply being sporadic. The food storage units that were set up in the enemy’s rear were lost for various reasons which caused the partisan detachments to fall apart. By the end of 1943 food supply was organized on a permanent basis by means of local food resources from the enemy’s rear as well as by food deliveries from behind the front line. On the occupied territory the partisans received food in different ways and from various sources: from the local population (voluntarily and as confiscation from traitors), from enemy’s destroyed garrisons and food convoys.