The exhibition presents the first edition of the book “Partisan’s Companion”. It contains instructions on sabotage and engaging in guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. The editor who compiled this collection was Yury Germanovich Veber, and the consultant was Alexey Kanidievich Flegontov.

Yuri Germanovich Veber (1905–1989) was a Soviet writer and executive editor of the military literature department of the publishing house “Molodaya Gvardiya” (“Young Guard”).

Alexey Kanidievich Flegontov (1888–1943) was one of the leaders of the partisan movement during the Russian Civil War and the Great Patriotic War. After the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, Alexey Flegontov, who was in Moscow at that time, participated in the organization of the partisan movement. He died on March 11, 1943. The partisan brigade “For the Motherland” was named after him by order of the Belarusian command unit of the partisan movement.

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the small-format book “Partisan’s Companion” for the participants of the partisan movement. It was first published in 1941 by the printing house of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) “Molodaya Gvardiya”.

Judging by a number of details, it is clear that the collection was prepared before the war with Germany began and was focused on general recommendations. For example, the enemy in the illustrations for bayonet and hand-to-hand combat is depicted wearing a British uniform with a flat helmet.

When the war began, the first partisan detachments were formed. It was decided to compile a kind of manual for participants. After all, the partisans were mostly ordinary peasants, teachers and doctors. They had to develop a basic understanding of how to fight. Hence, such manuals were very useful for them.

The book begins with an appeal to the partisans. Depending on the time of publication, it could be a quote of Joseph Stalin or an excerpt from various decisions and resolutions. The rest of the book is dedicated to practical recommendations on conducting combat operations in the wooded areas. For example, these include instructions on how to handle grenades and other weapons.

This collection contains a lot of information that a partisan and a saboteur needed in order to survive and fight without supplies, communications or help from their own comrades. It provides information on how to find food in the forest, treat injuries and illnesses, build a disguised dwelling, blow up a tank or truck, attack sentries, sabotage communication lines, fight with a bayonet or knife, engage in hand-to-hand combat, repair weapons, and so on.