A saboteur is ... A detailed analysis

The article tells about who such saboteurs are, what they do, what are the methods of fighting them, who they can be. Let's talk about the German saboteurs of the Second World War.

Start

Always during wars, it became necessary to strike in the rear of the enemy, to weaken his position. This became especially important at the beginning of world clashes, when clear lines of fronts and the political course made it clear where their own, and where the strangers. Consonant with the dictionary, the saboteur is someone who carries out all sorts of activities in the rear of the enemy and inflicts damage on him. And his actions are sometimes directed not only at military facilities, but also at civilian ones. This definition can also be applied to a person who is only preparing for activities of this kind.

1941-1945

During the Great Patriotic War, German saboteurs brought a lot of trouble and caused significant damage to both the army and industry.

Already in the first days of the beginning of the battles on the other side of the border, a lot of saboteurs, disguised as Red Army soldiers, were regularly sent to us. And sometimes it was incredibly difficult to distinguish them. Unlike scouts who are more interested in safely settling in an enemy camp, saboteurs act brazenly, trying to inflict a large one-time damage. Undermining bridges, engineering, mining roads, sowing panic in the ranks of the retreating army, destroying communication lines and much more - that's what the one who was called the saboteur was doing. This, of course, could not help attracting the attention of counterintelligence, and a little later the special unit "SMERSH" appeared, which meant "death to spies". It is not difficult to guess, it was engaged in catching and eliminating the disguised enemy.

Saboteurs were both members of the German army, and individuals from among recruited Soviet citizens and prisoners of war. The recruiting of the latter was given a great deal of strength, since, knowing the language, they could act in a very deep rear and much more successfully.

A saboteur is first and foremost a brave and capable person, special schools were created for their training, where students received all the necessary knowledge for intelligence and subversive activities. Similar schools were in the Soviet Union.

Fight

As before, and in the modern world counterintelligence, army and law and order are engaged in fighting against such enemies. But unlike deep-rooted spies, it was more difficult to counteract saboteurs, since their task consisted of one-off actions of destroying infrastructure, capturing important ranks and disrupting offensive operations. And it was almost impossible to predict the exact location of their attack. Therefore, in the front-line zone, a lot of attention has always been paid to the patrol service and the guard.

As practice showed, unlike cinema and literature, a saboteur is not a universal soldier who knows absolutely everything, but a certain specialist. Of course, during the training they received a wide range of knowledge, up to the driving of armored vehicles and psychological influence, but more often a sabotage group operated in several people, where everyone had a role. A sniper, a demolisher, etc.

The main method of action of saboteurs is as follows: introduction or transfer to the rear of the enemy, observation with the collection of information, direct action and retreat. During the operation, they do not have documents and other identification marks with them, they do not contact people and wait in secluded places. But this scheme is effective only if, for example, you need to blow up the railway bridge in the forest. Because sometimes they are supplied with the necessary legend and documents.

But even with the most reliable papers, they are not immune from failure. For example, during the Second World War, any boy knew who was a saboteur, and vigilantly looked out for all suspicious personalities. Appropriate explanatory work was conducted with the adult population.

The most vivid examples of the failures of German saboteurs are related, by the way, with clips and boots.

The fact is that the clips on the German documents were made of stainless steel, while the Soviet paper clips rusted. Of course, the patrols did not arrest everyone who did not have rust on the pages of the certificate, but if it was issued last year, and the paper clips are clean, then, most likely, it's the enemy.

Also the differences were in the boots. Rather, the wooden nails with which they podbivalis. They were square with Germans, and Russians with round ones.

Modern world

Who is a saboteur in the modern world? The principles have not changed. They are trained by all the armies of the world. True, it is precisely such a profession as a "saboteur" that does not exist, when they need it, they become scouts, fighters of special units, and sometimes paratroopers.

Interesting fact

Recently, Latvian search engines have found a cache of German saboteurs, lying in the ground for more than 70 years! The iron capsule contained weapons, cartridges, explosives and detonators. Preserved everything in perfect condition.

So now we know who they are, and we understand the meaning of the word "saboteur".