During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, annexing much of the western parts of the Soviet Union. Between 1941 and 1943, the people of Karachay-Cherkessia allocated 52 million rubles to the Soviet defence efforts. The Karachay soldiers serving the Red Army fought in the Battle of Moscow and helped defeat the "Edelweiss" division. Nevertheless, the "Wehrmacht" occupied the Karachay oblast in August 1942. The "Gestapo" tortured and killed numerous Karachays. The anti-Soviet band groups, led by Izmail Dudov and M. Botashev, attacked the Soviet forces, including the Red Army, but also terrorized the local population. The German authorities also allowed for the formation of the Karachay National Committee. 362 paratroopers, which included some 200 Karachays, were dispatched by the German soldiers in the region in order to destabilize it. The Soviet army recaptured the region in January 1943, thereby arresting 8,673 persons by April the same year. 65 bands were eliminated, their weapons confiscated. The Karachay National Committee fled with the German army. On 15 April 1943, the Soviet Office of the Prosecutor General issued Directive N 52-6927, ordering the deportation of the family members of the active band groups outside the Karachay region. 177 families, numbering 673 people, were subject to deportation.