How an German SS brigade defected to Soviet partisans (VIDEO)
When the tide of the war turned, the cunning collaborators from the SS ‘Druzhina’ Brigade decided to switch sides. However, forgiveness still had to be earned.
This happened to the 1st Russian National SS Brigade ‘Druzhina’. It included collaborators from among Soviet prisoners of war and defectors.
The ‘Druzhina’ distinguished itself with punitive expeditions in Poland and Byelorussia. After the Soviet triumph at the ‘Battle of Kursk’, wily collaborators planned to change sides. Again!
Partisans from the ‘Zheleznyak’ detachment learned of this. They lured the SS men over to their side by promising them a chance to atone for their guilt to the Motherland with blood. On August 16, 1943, more than 2,000 ‘Druzhina’ members shot down the stunned Germans and retreated into the forests to join the partisans.
The ‘Druzhina’ was renamed the 1st Anti-Fascist Partisan Brigade and thrown into the thick of the fighting. In May 1944, it was almost completely destroyed during the German anti-partisan ‘Operation Spring Awakening’.
