Assessment
The partisans' activities included disrupting the railroad communications, intelligence gathering and, typically, small hit and run operations. With the German supply lines already over extended, the partisan operations in the rear of the front lines were able to severely disrupt the flow of supplies to the army that acted deep into the Soviet territory.
In the second half of the war, major partisan operations were coordinated with Soviet offensives. Upon liberation of parts of the Soviet territory the corresponding partisan detachments usually joined the regular Army.
The partisans were an important and numerous force of the war. According to Soviet sources, from 90,000 partisans (including underground) by the end of 1941 it grew to 220,000 in 1942, and to more than 550,000 in 1943. Soviet partisans inflicted thousands of casualties on Axis forces. In Belarus alone the partisans claimed to have killed, injured and taken prisoner some 500,000 German soldiers. Based on German sources, historians consider these claims to be far exaggerated. According to German historian Christian Gerlach, 6,000-7,000 German troops were killed by partisans in Belarus, not including local auxiliaries.
Read more about this topic: Soviet Partisans
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