The Soviet and Belarusian historiographies study the subject of German occupation in the context of contemporary Belarus, regarded as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 1941 borders as a whole. Polish historiography insists on special, even separate treatment for the East Lands of the Poland in the 1921 borders (alias "Kresy Wschodnie" alias West Belarus), which were incorporated into the BSSR after the Soviet invaded Poland on 17 September 1939. More than 100,000 people of different ethnic backgrounds, mostly Poles and Jews in West Belarus, were imprisoned, executed or transported to the eastern USSR by Soviet authorities before the German invasion. The NKVD (Soviet secret police) killed more than 1,000 prisoners in June and July 1941, for example, in Chervyen.
After twenty months of Soviet rule in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Eastern Belarus suffered particularly heavily during the fighting and German occupation. Following bloody encirclement battles, all of the present-day Belarus territory was occupied by the Germans by the end of August 1941. With Poland regarding the Soviet annexation as illegal, the majority of Polish citizens did not ask for Soviet citizenship from 1939 to 1941, and as a result were Polish citizens under Soviet and later German occupation.
Occupationedit
A column of Soviet POWs captured near Minsk is marched west
In the early days of the occupation, a powerful and increasingly well-coordinated Soviet partisan movement emerged. Hiding in the woods and swamps, the partisans inflicted heavy damage to German supply lines and communications, disrupting railway tracks, bridges, telegraph wires, attacking supply depots, fuel dumps and transports, and ambushing Axis soldiers. In one of the most successful partisan sabotage actions of the entire Second World War, the so-called Asipovichy diversion of 30 July 1943, four German trains with supplies and Tiger tanks were destroyed. To fight partisan activity, the Germans had to withdraw considerable forces behind their front line. On 22 June 1944, the huge Soviet Strategic Offensive Operation Bagration was launched, finally regaining all of Belarus by the end of August.
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The German invasion and occupation resulted in heavy human casualties, with some 380,000 people deported for slave labour, and the mass murder of hundreds of thousands more civilians. The ethnically Slavic Byelorussian population was intended to be exterminated, expelled, or enslaved as part of the German ethnic cleansing operation named Generalplan Ost. At least 5,295 Byelorussian settlements were destroyed by the Nazis and some or all their inhabitants killed (out of 9,200 settlements that were burned or otherwise destroyed in Belarus during World War II),[3] and more than 600 villages like Khatyn had their entire population annihilated.[3]
A 2017 study found "that Soviet partisan attacks against German personnel provoked reprisals against civilians but that attacks against railroads had the opposite effect. Where partisans focused on disrupting German supply lines rather than killing Germans, occupying forces conducted fewer reprisals, burned fewer houses, and killed fewer people."[4]
The largest Jewish ghetto in Soviet Belarus before the conclusion of World War II was the Minsk Ghetto, created by the Germans shortly after the invasion began. Almost the whole, previously numerous Jewish population of Belarus which did not evacuate east ahead of the German advance was killed during the Holocaust by bullet. The list of eradicated Jewish ghettos in Nazi-Soviet occupied Poland extending eastward toward the border with the Soviet Belarus can be found at the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland article.
Later in 1944, 30 German-trained Belarusians were airdropped behind the Soviet front line to spark disarray. These were known as "Čorny Kot" ("Black Cat") led by Michał Vituška. They had some initial success due to disorganization in the rear guard of Red Army. Other Belarusian units slipped through Białowieża Forest and full scale guerilla war erupted in 1945. But the NKVD infiltrated these units and neutralized them by the end of 1946.
In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population in the Second World War, including practically all its intellectual elite. About 9,200 villages and 1,200,000 houses were destroyed. The major towns of Minsk and Vitebsk lost over 80% of their buildings and city infrastructure. For the defense against the Germans, and the tenacity during the German occupation, the capital Minsk was awarded the title Hero City after the war. The fortress of Brest was awarded the title Hero-Fortress.
Exeler, Franziska. "What Did You Do during the War?" Kritika: Explorations in Russian & Eurasian History (Fall 2016) 17#4 pp 805–835; examines popular behaviour in Byelorussia under the Germans, using oral history, letters of complaint, memoirs and secret police and party reports.
Gerlach, Christian (2000). Kalkulierte Morde: die deutsche Wirtschafts- und Vernichtungspolitik in Weißrußland 1941 bis 1944 (1st ed.). Hamburg: Hamburger Ed. ISBN3930908638.
Marples, David R. (2014). "Our Glorious Past": Lukashenka's Belarus and the Great Patriotic War. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag. ISBN9783838206752.
Mulligan, Timothy Patrick (1988). The Politics of Illusion and Empire: German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1942-1943. New York: Praeger. ISBN978-0275928377.
Rein, Leonid (2013). The Kings and the Pawns: Collaboration in Byelorussia during World War II. New York: Berghahn. ISBN978-1782380474.
Slepyan, Kenneth (2006). Stalin's Guerrillas: Soviet Partisans in World War II. Lawrence, Kan.: Univ. Press of Kansas. ISBN978-0700614806.
Tec, Nechama (2009). Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, The Story of the Largest Armed Resistance by Jews During World War II (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0195376852.
german, occupation, byelorussia, during, world, german, invasion, soviet, union, started, june, 1941, german, military, occupation, byelorussia, until, fully, liberated, august, 1944, result, operation, bagration, western, parts, byelorussia, became, part, rei. The German invasion of the Soviet Union started on 22 June 1941 and led to a German military occupation of Byelorussia until it was fully liberated in August 1944 as a result of Operation Bagration The western parts of Byelorussia became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941 and in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a regional government the Belarusian Central Rada that lasted until the Soviets reestablished control over the region Altogether more than 2 million people were killed in Belarus during the three years of Nazi occupation almost a quarter of the region s population 1 including 500 000 to 550 000 Jews in the Holocaust in Belarus 2 Mogilev Jews assembled for forced labour July 1941 Contents 1 Background 2 Invasion 3 Occupation 4 War crimes 4 1 Nazi units 4 2 Notable Nazi personnel 4 3 Other units and participants 5 Holocaust 6 Post occupation 7 See also 7 1 People 8 Notes 9 Further reading 10 External linksBackground editThe Soviet and Belarusian historiographies study the subject of German occupation in the context of contemporary Belarus regarded as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic BSSR a constituent republic of the Soviet Union in the 1941 borders as a whole Polish historiography insists on special even separate treatment for the East Lands of the Poland in the 1921 borders alias Kresy Wschodnie alias West Belarus which were incorporated into the BSSR after the Soviet invaded Poland on 17 September 1939 More than 100 000 people of different ethnic backgrounds mostly Poles and Jews in West Belarus were imprisoned executed or transported to the eastern USSR by Soviet authorities before the German invasion The NKVD Soviet secret police killed more than 1 000 prisoners in June and July 1941 for example in Chervyen Invasion editMain article Military history of Belarus during World War II After twenty months of Soviet rule in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine Nazi Germany and its Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 Eastern Belarus suffered particularly heavily during the fighting and German occupation Following bloody encirclement battles all of the present day Belarus territory was occupied by the Germans by the end of August 1941 With Poland regarding the Soviet annexation as illegal the majority of Polish citizens did not ask for Soviet citizenship from 1939 to 1941 and as a result were Polish citizens under Soviet and later German occupation Occupation edit nbsp A column of Soviet POWs captured near Minsk is marched westMain article Belarusian resistance during World War II In the early days of the occupation a powerful and increasingly well coordinated Soviet partisan movement emerged Hiding in the woods and swamps the partisans inflicted heavy damage to German supply lines and communications disrupting railway tracks bridges telegraph wires attacking supply depots fuel dumps and transports and ambushing Axis soldiers In one of the most successful partisan sabotage actions of the entire Second World War the so called Asipovichy diversion of 30 July 1943 four German trains with supplies and Tiger tanks were destroyed To fight partisan activity the Germans had to withdraw considerable forces behind their front line On 22 June 1944 the huge Soviet Strategic Offensive Operation Bagration was launched finally regaining all of Belarus by the end of August War crimes editMain article Bandenbekampfung This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions August 2016 The German invasion and occupation resulted in heavy human casualties with some 380 000 people deported for slave labour and the mass murder of hundreds of thousands more civilians The ethnically Slavic Byelorussian population was intended to be exterminated expelled or enslaved as part of the German ethnic cleansing operation named Generalplan Ost At least 5 295 Byelorussian settlements were destroyed by the Nazis and some or all their inhabitants killed out of 9 200 settlements that were burned or otherwise destroyed in Belarus during World War II 3 and more than 600 villages like Khatyn had their entire population annihilated 3 A 2017 study found that Soviet partisan attacks against German personnel provoked reprisals against civilians but that attacks against railroads had the opposite effect Where partisans focused on disrupting German supply lines rather than killing Germans occupying forces conducted fewer reprisals burned fewer houses and killed fewer people 4 nbsp Belarusian Central Rada Minsk June 1943 nbsp On the way to the railway station in Minsk young people from Belarus march past the chairman of the Belarusian Central Council Professor Radaslaŭ Astroŭski They are going to be trained in Germany for military action Minsk June 1944 nbsp Erich von dem Bach Zelewski and Ordnungspolizei Minsk ca 1943 nbsp A hanged Belarusian resistance member Minsk 1942 1943 nbsp Belarusian Auxiliary Police Mohylew March 1943 nbsp Mass murder of Soviet civilians near Minsk 1943Further information Operation Bamberg Operation Hornung and Operation Cottbus Nazi units edit Main article Foreign relations of the Axis of World War II Belarus nbsp Battle group Walter Schimana summer 194314th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galicia 1st Ukrainian 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA 1st Russian 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 1st Belarusian 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 2nd Russian 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Einsatzgruppen Ukrainian Auxiliary Police Byelorussian Auxiliary PoliceNotable Nazi personnel edit Erich von dem Bach Zelewski Gustavs Celmins Oskar Dirlewanger Curt von Gottberg Konrads Kalejs Bronislav Kaminski Wilhelm Kube Anthony Sawoniuk Karl Schafer Jakob SporrenbergOther units and participants edit Army Group CentreHolocaust editMain article Holocaust in Belarus The largest Jewish ghetto in Soviet Belarus before the conclusion of World War II was the Minsk Ghetto created by the Germans shortly after the invasion began Almost the whole previously numerous Jewish population of Belarus which did not evacuate east ahead of the German advance was killed during the Holocaust by bullet The list of eradicated Jewish ghettos in Nazi Soviet occupied Poland extending eastward toward the border with the Soviet Belarus can be found at the Jewish ghettos in German occupied Poland article Post occupation editMain article Consequences of German Nazism Belarus Later in 1944 30 German trained Belarusians were airdropped behind the Soviet front line to spark disarray These were known as Corny Kot Black Cat led by Michal Vituska They had some initial success due to disorganization in the rear guard of Red Army Other Belarusian units slipped through Bialowieza Forest and full scale guerilla war erupted in 1945 But the NKVD infiltrated these units and neutralized them by the end of 1946 In total Belarus lost a quarter of its pre war population in the Second World War including practically all its intellectual elite About 9 200 villages and 1 200 000 houses were destroyed The major towns of Minsk and Vitebsk lost over 80 of their buildings and city infrastructure For the defense against the Germans and the tenacity during the German occupation the capital Minsk was awarded the title Hero City after the war The fortress of Brest was awarded the title Hero Fortress See also editEastern Front World War II Khatyn massacre slaughter of Belarus civilians Maly Trostenets extermination camp Military history of Belarus during World War II Operation Tempest Narodowe Sily Zbrojne Slutsk Affair Soviet partisan Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union Come and See Fortress of WarPeople edit Radaslaŭ Astroŭski Pyotr Masherov Michal VituskaNotes edit The tragedy of Khatyn Genocide policy SMC Khatyn 2005 Archived from the original on March 10 2015 Waitman Wade Beorn January 6 2014 Marching into Darkness Harvard University Press p 28 ISBN 978 0 674 72660 4 a b in English Genocide policy Khatyn by SMC Khatyn 2005 Archived from the original on December 26 2018 Retrieved August 26 2006 Zhukov Yuri M January 1 2017 External Resources and Indiscriminate Violence Evidence from German Occupied Belarus World Politics 69 1 54 97 doi 10 1017 S0043887116000137 ISSN 0043 8871 S2CID 41023436 Further reading editMain article Bibliography of the history of Belarus and Byelorussia Beorn Waitman Wade 2014 Marching into Darkness The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus Cambridge Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0674725508 Exeler Franziska What Did You Do during the War Kritika Explorations in Russian amp Eurasian History Fall 2016 17 4 pp 805 835 examines popular behaviour in Byelorussia under the Germans using oral history letters of complaint memoirs and secret police and party reports Gerlach Christian 2000 Kalkulierte Morde die deutsche Wirtschafts und Vernichtungspolitik in Weissrussland 1941 bis 1944 1st ed Hamburg Hamburger Ed ISBN 3930908638 Marples David R 2014 Our Glorious Past Lukashenka s Belarus and the Great Patriotic War Stuttgart Ibidem Verlag ISBN 9783838206752 Mulligan Timothy Patrick 1988 The Politics of Illusion and Empire German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union 1942 1943 New York Praeger ISBN 978 0275928377 Rein Leonid 2013 The Kings and the Pawns Collaboration in Byelorussia during World War II New York Berghahn ISBN 978 1782380474 Slepyan Kenneth 2006 Stalin s Guerrillas Soviet Partisans in World War II Lawrence Kan Univ Press of Kansas ISBN 978 0700614806 Snyder Timothy 2012 Bloodlands Europe between Hitler and Stalin New York Basic Books ISBN 978 0465031474 Tec Nechama 2009 Defiance The Bielski Partisans The Story of the Largest Armed Resistance by Jews During World War II 4th ed New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0195376852 External links editBelarus at European Holocaust Research Infrastructure EHRI Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II amp oldid 1180854311, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
