Franzischak Kuschal

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Franzischak Kuschal , also called Franz Kushel , ( Belarusian Францішак Кушаль ; born February 16, 1895 in Piarschai , Minsk Governorate , Russian Empire ; † May 25, 1968 in Rochester , New York ) was a Belarusian general and politician. During the Second World War he commanded the White Ruthenian Home Guard , a military unit that fought against the Red Army on the side of the National Socialist German Reich .

Life

Franzischak Kuschal was born near Minsk in 1895 .

In 1916, Kuschal finished the infantry school in Vilnius and took part in the First World War. He received the rank of captain (captain) before the Bolshevik Revolution ended his career in the Imperial Russian Army . From 1917 to 1921 he served in several Polish prozarist units that helped the White Army fight the Bolsheviks. From 1921 to August 1939, Kuschal was the captain of the Polish army . Between September 1939 and January 1941, due to his involvement in the Polish-Soviet War , he was in Soviet captivity, where, according to a source, he was working with the NKVD to possibly save his life. Kuschal survived the Katyn massacre .

Second World War

During the Second World War, Kuschal actively collaborated with the German occupiers and saw the Third Reich as a civilized and cultured nation that could help to achieve the independence of Belarus. Kuschal became police chief of Minsk .

On July 1, 1942, he was tasked with building the White Ruthenian Self-Protection Corps, a military unit to fight partisans . He and his subordinates managed to set up 20 battalions and a few smaller formations. In the spring of 1943 the organization was disbanded because of the lack of support from the Germans. From August 1943, Kuschal was the highest ranking Belarusian police officer.

In a detailed report on the actions of the Germans in the Hermann company, Kuschal reprimanded the cruel and indiscriminate actions against the civilian population. Members of the Belarusian Confidence Council then turned to the German rulers, which provoked angry reactions from the police and SS, but did not lead to the desired moderation in the fight against partisans.

Due to the ever closer Soviet front, Curt von Gottberg declared on February 23, 1944 ready to found the White Ruthenian Home Guard, which was under the command of Kuschal and also served to fight partisans. Kuschal was both major and inspector of the White Ruthenian Home Guard. He later served in the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS .

exile

In July 1944, Kuschal fled to Germany as a result of his withdrawal . On April 28, 1945, he was captured by the Americans in the Eisenstadt region in the Czech Republic, but was released again. Later, Kuschal founded the Association of Belarusian Veterans, which operated worldwide. In the Ganghofer settlement in Regensburg , Kuschal headed the Belarusians' committee that was convened in June 1945 and was responsible for Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate .

Kuschal was head of the DP camp in Michelsdorf . According to his own statements, he is said to have maintained contacts with a Belarusian anti-Soviet partisan movement led by Michal Wituschka .

He stayed in West Germany until 1950 before finally emigrating to the USA , where he was an active member of the Belarusian exile community. Kuschal received the rank of major general and defense minister from the government-in-exile of the Belarusian Central Council . From 1952 to 1954 he was chairman of the Belarusian-American Association. Kuschal died on May 25, 1968 in Rochester.

literature

  • Roman P. Smolorz: Displaced Persons (DPs): Authorities and leaders in the budding Cold War in eastern Bavaria. City Archives, 2006

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mark Alexander: Nazi Collaborators, American Intelligence, and the Cold War. The Case of the Byelorussian Central Council. University of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses, No. 424, 2015, pp. 13f.
  2. ↑ Mark Alexander: Nazi Collaborators, American Intelligence, and the Cold War. The Case of the Byelorussian Central Council. University of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses, No. 424, 2015, p. 14.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Antonio J. Muñoz, Oleg V. Romanko: Hitler's White Russians: Collaboration, Extermination and Anti-partisan Warfare in Byelorussia, 1941-1944 , Europa Books 2003, pp. 448f.
  4. ↑ Mark Alexander: Nazi Collaborators, American Intelligence, and the Cold War. The Case of the Byelorussian Central Council. University of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses, No. 424, 2015, p. 22.
  5. ↑ Mark Alexander: Nazi Collaborators, American Intelligence, and the Cold War. The Case of the Byelorussian Central Council. University of Vermont Graduate College Dissertations and Theses, No. 424, 2015, p. 23.
  6. ↑ Alexander Brakel: Under Red Star and Swastika. Baranowicze 1939 to 1944. Western Belarus under Soviet and German occupation . (= Age of World Wars. Volume 5). Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76784-4 , pp. 210-211.
  7. ↑ Alexander Brakel: Under Red Star and Swastika. Baranowicze 1939 to 1944. Western Belarus under Soviet and German occupation . (= Age of World Wars. Volume 5). Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76784-4 , p. 222.
  8. ↑ Alexander Brakel: Under Red Star and Swastika. Baranowicze 1939 to 1944. Western Belarus under Soviet and German occupation . (= Age of World Wars. Volume 5). Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76784-4 , p. 220.
  9. ↑ a b Eastern European emigrants in Bavaria 1945–1949: Collaborators of the National Socialists or sincere anti-communists? In: Eastern European Institute Regensburg
  10. ↑ John Loftus : America's Nazi Secret. TrineDay LCC 2010, p. 159
  11. ↑ KUSCHEL, FRANCIS on foia.cia.gov (English)
personal data
SURNAME Kuschal, Franzischak
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Кушаль, Францішак (Belarusian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belarusian general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Piarschai , Minsk Governorate , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1968
Place of death Rochester (New York)