Beglem's receipt of the pennant for resilience and courage embodies the multinational struggle against fascism

August 28, Begoml / Andrey Asfura - BELTA /. The official ceremony of awarding the pennant "For Steadfastness and Courage during the Great Patriotic War" and an honorary diploma to the urban-type settlement of Begoml took place today on a site near the Minsk-Vitebsk highway, a BELTA correspondent reports. "Begoml's receipt of the pennant for steadfastness and courage embodies the multinational struggle against fascism," said Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. In his opinion, this date will go down in the history of Begoml, especially since only five cities in the Vitebsk region have been awarded such a high title. "Begoml is getting better every day, and we are glad that we can remember today the great feat of the generation of liberators," Oleg Matskevich emphasized. Valery Mikhailovsky, Chairman of the Begoml Settlement Council of Deputies, in turn, noted that the pennant will serve as a reminder to the younger generation of the contribution made by underground fighters, partisans, and Red Army soldiers to the liberation of Begoml and its surroundings. The urban-type settlement of Begoml was occupied by Nazi invaders on July 2, 1941. The Hitlerites stationed a garrison in Begoml and converted it into a reinforced point with firing positions, trenches, and pillboxes. It was intended to serve as a stronghold for combating the partisan movement in the northeastern region of the Minsk Oblast. From August 1941, partisan brigades "Zheleznyak," "Uncle Kolya," "People's Avengers," "Death to Fascism," named after Kalinin, Kirov, Voronyansky, and the special sabotage detachment of Kuzin, as well as underground organizations, operated in the district center. On December 20, 1942, as a result of the Begoml operation, partisans defeated the fascist garrison. From that moment on, Soviet power was established throughout the Begoml district and the northern part of the Borisov district (which is about 2,000 sq. km), and by the end of 1943, another approximately 6,000 sq. km were liberated. On the liberated territories, a partisan commandant's office, a mobile hospital, and a printing house where the underground newspaper "Soviet Patriot" was published were created, a telephone exchange was restored, and constant communication with partisan detachments was established. From April 1943, a partisan airfield was equipped, to which pilots of the 101st Long-Range Aviation Regiment delivered weapons, ammunition, medicines, and newspapers for more than 40 partisan detachments and brigades. Children, severely wounded, and sick were also evacuated through the Begoml airfield. In the summer of 1943, thanks to targeted agitation, an operation was carried out to defect to the partisans of an enemy formation – the 1st Russian National Brigade under the command of Gil-Radionov. It was renamed the 1st Anti-Fascist Partisan Brigade, which subsequently defeated the fascist garrison in Krulewchschina. At the time of unification with the Red Army units, the partisan formation of the Borisov-Begoml zone included 10 brigades with a total strength of 10,500 people. They controlled about 11,000 sq. km of territory. Begoml was liberated by soldiers of the 277th Rifle Division, the 7th Mechanized Brigade of the 3rd Belarusian Front, and partisans of the "Zheleznyak" brigade on July 1, 1944. -0-