Belarusian Collaboration

Collaborators were people who cooperated with the German authorities in the countries occupied by the Nazis in the Second World War. Several collaborationist public organisations were created and operated during the Nazi occupation in Belarus.

Belarusian People’s Self-Assistance (Belorusskaya narodnaya samopomoshch BNS) – a national charitable organisation. It was founded on 22 October 1941 as a successor of the Belarusian Red Cross. The heads were I. Ermachenko, V. Ivanovsky, Yu. Sobolevsky. The governing body was the Central Council (Tsentral). The okrug, district and volost divisions were created in each okrug, district and volost. The organisation functioned under the supervision of the German occupation authorities, was involved in collecting funds and assisting people who suffered from the war, carried out charitable, cultural, educational as well as political activity. At the congress of the Central Council and the BNS okrug representatives, held in March 1943, a memorandum was adopted demanding from the Occupation authorities a complete autonomy for Belarus and the creation of the Belarusian government and the army. This raised the discontent of the German administration who gave orders that the BNS limited its activity to healthcare and assistance to the population. In June 1943, the organisation was reorganised as the Belarusian Self-Assistance (BSP), which was involved in charity work only. From 1 March 1944, the BSP was subordinate to the Belarusian Central Council.

Belarusian Corps of Self-Defence (Belorusski korpus samooborony BKS) – military formations of the Belarusian collaborators, created in June 1942. The chief commandant was I. Ermachenko. The main task was to assist the German and local police in the fight against partisans. It was planned to create three divisions, but only 20 battalions were formed, which the Germans never agreed to arm. In spring 1943, the Belarusian Corps of Self-Defence was disbanded.

Belarusian Youth Union (Soyuz belorusskoi molodezhi SBM) – a youth organisation in the occupied territory of Belarus and in Germany. It was founded on 22 June 1943 on the model of Hitlerjugend. The senior governing body, the Chief Headquarters, headed by M. Ganko and N. Abramova, consisted of several divisions: propaganda, press, culture; welfare, healthcare and physical education, and a school division. The SBM consisted of young people aged between 10 and 20. The purpose was to unite the young Belarusian people, to cultivate their national self-consciousness and readiness to fight for Belarus, which would be “restored” with the help of Germany. As on 1 April 1944, the SBM functioned in 16 okrugs and over 60 districts, totalling more than 12,600 people. The activity of the Union continued in Germany until spring 1945.

Belarusian Trust Council (Belorusskaya rada doveriya) – an advisory council of Belarusian public representatives under the General Commissar of Belarus. It was founded in Minsk in June 1943. The chairman was V. Ivanovsky. The task was to collect and handle the proposals and requests addressed to the Occupation authorities, to participate with an advisory vote in the sittings of the General Commissariat of Belarus. In December 1943, the Belarusian Trust Council was reorganised as the Belarusian Central Council.

Belarusian Central Council (Belorusskaya tsentralnaya rada BCR) – an advisory body, the central instance of the Belarusian administration in the occupied territory. It was formed in December 1943 from the Belarusian Trust Council. The president was R. Ostrovsky. The main functions were to administer culture, welfare, and school affairs. The organisation had its representations (namestnichestva) in most of the districts. Under its authority were the earlier formed Belarusian People’s Self-Assistance, the Belarusian Youth Union, the Belarusian Scientific Society, etc. Officially subordinate to the BCR were the formations of the Belarusian Local Defence. The BCR was disbanded at the 2nd All-Belarusian Congress on 22 June 1944.

Belarusian Local Defence (Belorusskaya kraevaya oborona BKO) – military formations of the collaborators, created in March 1944. At the head of the chief command was Major F. Kushal. The main task was the fight against Partisans, the Red Army, and the Polish Local Army. The basis of the BKO was made up of forced recruits born between 1908 and 1924. Nearly 25,000 men were mobilised, from whom 36 infantry battalions and 6 sapper battalions were formed by  mid-April 1944. The BKO formations did not participate in active combat operations; only in several places the armed groups took part in the fight against the partisans. Basically, the BKO formations were used for agricultural work and the protection of buildings and warehouses. Desertion and transition to the side of the partisans took place on a large scale. After the liberation of Belarus, some of the BKO formations moved to Germany, where they formed the 1st Grenadier Brigade “Belarus” and formed part of the 30th Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarusian).