Operation Concert

On 19 September 1943, an operation by Soviet partisans began under the code name “Concert.” It was one of the largest operations of World War II in its effects on the incapacitation of railroad communications in the logistics of the enemy rear. The operation was conducted through a plan developed by and under the management of the Central Staff of Partisan Movement at the Stavka VGC (Chief Military Committee), and was coordinated with the forthcoming offensive of the Soviet troops in the Smolensk Offensive operation (Operation Suvorov 7 August - 2 October) and Gomel directions and intended crossing of the river Dnepr as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943 (1 July - 31 December). The operation included participation of 193 partisan detachments and groups totalling more than 210,000 men, women, and children.