Collaborators were people who cooperated with the German authorities in the countries\r\noccupied by the Nazis in the Second World War. Several collaborationist public\r\norganisations were created and operated during the Nazi occupation in Belarus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Belarusian People’s Self-Assistance <\/strong>(Belorusskaya narodnaya\r\nsamopomoshch BNS)<\/em> – a national charitable organisation. It was founded on 22 October\r\n1941 as a successor of the Belarusian Red Cross. The heads were I. Ermachenko, V.\r\nIvanovsky, Yu. Sobolevsky. The governing body was the Central Council (Tsentral<\/em>).\r\nThe okrug, district and volost divisions were created in each okrug, district and volost.\r\nThe organisation functioned under the supervision of the German occupation authorities,\r\nwas involved in collecting funds and assisting people who suffered from the war, carried\r\nout charitable, cultural, educational as well as political activity. At the congress of\r\nthe Central Council and the BNS okrug representatives, held in March 1943, a memorandum\r\nwas adopted demanding from the Occupation authorities a complete autonomy for Belarus and\r\nthe creation of the Belarusian government and the army. This raised the discontent of the\r\nGerman administration who gave orders that the BNS limited its activity to healthcare and\r\nassistance to the population. In June 1943, the organisation was reorganised as the\r\nBelarusian Self-Assistance (BSP), which was involved in charity work only. From 1 March\r\n1944, the BSP was subordinate to the Belarusian Central Council.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n Belarusian Corps of Self-Defence<\/strong> (Belorusski korpus samooborony BKS)<\/em>\r\n– military formations of the Belarusian collaborators, created in June 1942. The chief\r\ncommandant was I. Ermachenko. The main task was to assist the German and local police in\r\nthe fight against partisans. It was planned to create three divisions, but only 20\r\nbattalions were formed, which the Germans never agreed to arm. In spring 1943, the\r\nBelarusian Corps of Self-Defence was disbanded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Belarusian Youth Union <\/strong>(Soyuz belorusskoi molodezhi SBM)<\/em> – a\r\nyouth organisation in the occupied territory of Belarus and in Germany. It was founded on\r\n22 June 1943 on the model of Hitlerjugend. The senior governing body, the Chief\r\nHeadquarters, headed by M. Ganko and N. Abramova, consisted of several divisions:\r\npropaganda, press, culture; welfare, healthcare and physical education, and a school\r\ndivision. The SBM consisted of young people aged between 10 and 20. The purpose was to\r\nunite the young Belarusian people, to cultivate their national self-consciousness and\r\nreadiness to fight for Belarus, which would be “restored” with the help of\r\nGermany. As on 1 April 1944, the SBM functioned in 16 okrugs and over 60 districts,\r\ntotalling more than 12,600 people. The activity of the Union continued in Germany until\r\nspring 1945. <\/p>\r\n\r\n Belarusian Trust Council <\/strong>(Belorusskaya rada doveriya)<\/em> – an\r\nadvisory council of Belarusian public representatives under the General Commissar of\r\nBelarus. It was founded in Minsk in June 1943. The chairman was V. Ivanovsky. The task was\r\nto collect and handle the proposals and requests addressed to the Occupation authorities,\r\nto participate with an advisory vote in the sittings of the General Commissariat of\r\nBelarus. In December 1943, the Belarusian Trust Council was reorganised as the Belarusian\r\nCentral Council.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Belarusian Central Council<\/strong> (Belorusskaya tsentralnaya rada BCR)<\/em>\r\n– an advisory body, the central instance of the Belarusian administration in the occupied\r\nterritory. It was formed in December 1943 from the Belarusian Trust Council. The president\r\nwas R. Ostrovsky. The main functions were to administer culture, welfare, and school\r\naffairs. The organisation had its representations (namestnichestva<\/em>) in most of\r\nthe districts. Under its authority were the earlier formed Belarusian People’s\r\nSelf-Assistance, the Belarusian Youth Union, the Belarusian Scientific Society, etc. Officially\r\nsubordinate to the BCR were the formations of the Belarusian Local Defence. The BCR was\r\ndisbanded at the 2nd All-Belarusian Congress on 22 June 1944.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Belarusian Local Defence<\/strong> <\/b><\/i>(Belorusskaya kraevaya\r\noborona BKO)<\/em> – military formations of the collaborators, created in March 1944. At\r\nthe head of the chief command was Major F. Kushal. The main task was the fight against\r\nPartisans, the Red Army, and the Polish Local Army. The basis of the BKO was made up of\r\nforced recruits born between 1908 and 1924. Nearly 25,000 men were mobilised, from whom 36\r\ninfantry battalions and 6 sapper battalions were formed by\u00a0 mid-April 1944. The BKO\r\nformations did not participate in active combat operations; only in several places the\r\narmed groups took part in the fight against the partisans. Basically, the BKO formations\r\nwere used for agricultural work and the protection of buildings and warehouses. Desertion\r\nand transition to the side of the partisans took place on a large scale. After the\r\nliberation of Belarus, some of the BKO formations moved to Germany, where they formed the\r\n1st Grenadier Brigade “Belarus” and formed part of the 30th Grenadier Division\r\nof the SS (1st Belarusian). <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collaborators were people who cooperated with the German authorities in the countries occupied by the Nazis in the Second World War. 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