White Ruthenian Home Guard

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Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995) .svg Belarusian Home
Guard Belaruskaja Krajowaja Abarona
(Беларуская краёвая абарона - БKA)
Balkenkreuz
guide
Commander in Chief : Franzischak Kuschal
Military strength
Active soldiers: 21,629
Conscription: Yes
Eligibility for military service: 20-36
history
Founding: February 23, 1944
Resolution: April 28, 1945

The Belarusian Home Guard ( Belarusian Беларуская краёвая абарона , Belaruskaja Krajowaja Abarona, BKA) was a Belarusian association that fought on the German side in World War II .

history

After the Red Army continued to advance, the German occupiers began to arm so-called Eastern peoples .

On February 23, 1944, General Commissioner Curt von Gottberg decided to found a Belarusian army, which should be under the command of Franzischak Kuschal , who was already acting as head of the Belarusian Self-Protection Corps. The soldiers' mobilization began three weeks after the project was approved . All former officers, both in the tsarist and Polish armies , as well as all men born between 1918 and 1924 were called up. Anyone who did not report within the given period was threatened with the death penalty . Furthermore, the families of the recruits were held liable in order to prevent them from going over to the partisans .

The BKA not only served to protect against partisans and sabotage attacks, but also fought against Soviet troops at the front.

At the beginning of March 1944, each area commissioner received a local commander. Within a few weeks, over 40,000 men were drafted, of which only 21,629 were divided into 34 battalions. Some of the recruits were integrated into six Heimwehr pioneer battalions and others into Wehrmacht pioneer battalions. The remaining recruits were obliged to do activities such as digging or even deported to Germany for forced labor . Thousands of members later turned their backs on the BKA and went over to the partisans.

The units of the BKA took an active part in the partisan war until July 1944. Their commanders were supposed to coordinate all actions with the Wehrmacht leadership. However, in most cases the necessary coordination was lacking. Although the soldiers and officers of the BKA were not sufficiently trained, some units offered bitter resistance against the partisan detachments. Successful military actions included a. Operation "Spring Festival" carried out jointly with the SS in the cities of Polatsk and Lepel in northern Belarus. As a result, the Soviet underground fighters lost more than 80 percent of their combat personnel.

With the increasing advance of the Red Army , the members were transferred to the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Belarusian No. 1) . While some members of the Belarus Home Guard stayed in Belarus and were arrested by the Soviet authorities, some managed to flee west.

Individual evidence

  1. 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. 221.
  2. a b c 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. 220-222.
  3. 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.
  4. ^ Babette Quinkert: Propaganda and Terror in Belarus 1941-1944: The German "spiritual" warfare against civilians and partisans. Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3506765963 , p. 311.
  5. Дробязко Сергей Игоревич: Под знамёнами врага. Антисоветские формирования в составе германских вооруженных сил 1941−1945 гг. М .: Эксмо, 2004, ISBN 5-699-07992-0 , p. 257 .
  6. Gordon Williamson: Die SS. Hitler's Instrument of Power, Kaiser, 2005, p. 246.