Order of the Stavka of the Supreme Command No. 0428, 17 November 1941

Source: Tom 18

Source: Tom 18

The experience of the last month of war has shown that the German army is poorly adapted to war in winter conditions, does not have warm clothing, and, experiencing enormous hardships from the onset of freezing temperatures, huddles in populated areas in the front-line zone. The self-assured to the point of insolence enemy planned to winter in the warm houses of Moscow and Leningrad, but the actions of our troops prevented this. On extensive stretches of the front, German troops, having met stubborn resistance from our units, have been forced to go over to the defensive and have taken up positions in populated areas along roads 20-30 km on both sides. German soldiers live, as a rule, in towns, in hamlets, in villages, in peasant huts, barns, threshing barns, and bathhouses near the front, while the headquarters of German units are located in larger populated areas and towns, hiding in basement rooms and using them as shelter from our aviation and artillery. The Soviet population of these places is usually evicted and driven out by the German invaders.

To deprive the German army of the possibility of quartering in villages and towns, to drive the German invaders out of all populated areas into the cold of the open field, to smoke them out of all warm shelters and force them to freeze in the open -- this is an urgent task, the solution of which will in large measure determine the acceleration of the enemy's defeat and the disintegration of his army.

The Stavka of the Supreme Command orders:

1. To destroy and burn to the ground all populated areas in the rear of the German forces at a distance of 40-60 km in depth from the forward edge and 20-30 km to the right and left of roads.

For the destruction of populated areas within the indicated radius of action, to immediately commit aviation, to make wide use of artillery and mortar fire, reconnaissance teams, ski troops, and partisan sabotage groups supplied with bottles of incendiary mixture, grenades, and demolition devices.

2. In every regiment, to create hunter teams of 20-30 men each for the blowing up and burning of populated areas in which enemy troops are quartered. For the hunter teams, to select the most daring and sturdy soldiers, commanders, and political workers from the standpoint of political-moral fitness, carefully explaining to them the tasks and the significance of this measure for the defeat of the German army. Outstanding daredevils are to be recommended for government awards for their courageous actions in the destruction of populated areas where German forces are quartered.

3. In the event of a forced withdrawal of our units on one sector or another, to take the Soviet population along and without fail destroy all populated areas without exception, so that the enemy cannot use them. For this purpose, the hunter teams created in the regiments are to be used first and foremost.

4. The military councils of fronts and separate armies are to systematically verify how the assignments for the destruction of populated areas within the above-indicated radius from the front line are being carried out. Every 3 days, a separate report is to be sent to the Stavka on how many and which populated areas have been destroyed in the preceding days and by what means these results were achieved.

Stavka of the Supreme Command:

I. Stalin

B. Shaposhnikov

US Library of Congress. Manuscript Division. "Volkogonov Collection." Reel 4.