Soviet partisans in Estonia The Soviet partisans in Estonia were Communist partisans who attempted to wage guerrilla warfare against the German armed forces during the German occupation of Estonia . Partisan activity was singularly unsuccessful in Estonia due to the general resistance of the population to the Soviet regime that the partisans represented . The majority of partisans sent in by the Soviets were quickly picked up by the local Estonian militias . The war between Germany and the Soviet Union broke out after one year of Soviet occupation in Estonia . From July to December 1941 , Estonia was cleared of Soviet armed forces by Germans who were assisted by Estonian national partisans . The Germans refrained from looting and excessive murders as practiced by the Red Army in Estonia . Soviet partisans often robbed wealthier peasants and provoked German reprisals . The Baltic lands remained free of partisans throughout most of the war , by 1944 only 234 partisans were fighting in Estonia and none were native volunteers , all being either NKVD or Red Army personnel . The partisans found it impossible to establish permanent bases in Estonia , one reporting " " it is dangerous to visit a village where even one Estonian lives " " . In effect , those groups were rather small in Estonia , often consisting of Soviet paratroopers brought from the USSR proper , and never even reaching the degree of pro - Soviet guerilla warfare in Lithuania ( which , in turn , was minor compared with Soviet resistance activities in neighbouring Belarus ) . Background and origins . On July 5 , 1941 Estonia was invaded from the South by the Army Group North . The invasion lasted one day more than five months , ending with the occupation of Osmussaar on December 6 , 1941 . Besides the Soviet destruction battalions being ill - equipped compared the Wehrmacht , they attempted to defend the borders but only managed to thinly spread the limited resources available . Also , many Estonian soldiers within the Soviet units refused to fight , welcoming the Germans as liberators from Soviet reign of terror . As has been ascertained , units of destruction battalions burned farms and terrorized the civilian population ( for example Kautla massacre ) . Amid the German occupation that ensued , the " Eesti Partisaniliikumise Staap " ( Staff of Estonian Partisan Movement ) moved to organize and unite pro - Soviet factions and forces into the resistance . The guerrilla operations in Estonia had some basis in Joseph Stalin ' s authorisation of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid - August 1941 — he allowed any soldiers of his Estonian forces , the 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps ( " 22 . Eesti Territoriaalne Laskurkorpus " ; future 8th Estonian Rifle Corps ) , who wished to ' stay and defend their homes ' to do so — some Estonian soldiers , and a few Jews and Russians , evaded capture and continued fighting as partisans in the countryside for years during the war . Most however , like Nikolai Karotamm and Paul Stamm evacuated to the Soviet Union and notably participated in Soviet intelligence operations in aid of the partisans . Rudolf Lumi , in his 1963 book " Rahvatasujad " , pubslished in Soviet Estonia , claimed that the resistance was not orchestrated only by the Communist Party of Estonia and Soviet officials and argued that the partisans counted among their ranks anti - Stalinists and former Forest Brothers . The partisan warfare . By 1942 the partisans were provided with supplies , liaison officers and logistical coordination by the Soviet NKGB . However it diminished significantly after the capture of Karl Säre who forwarded information to the SiPo and SD , enabling to eliminate many Soviet partisan units in Estonia and cut others off from any further contact with Soviet intelligence operatives . Soviet partisans were more active in Virumaa and border areas between Pärnumaa and Petserimaa , which had terrain more suitable for guerilla warfare .