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{{short description|1943 massacre of Poles}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=January 2012}} |
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⚫ | The '''Naliboki massacre''' was the [[mass killing]] of |
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{{Infobox civilian attack |
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|title = Naliboki massacre |
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|image = Naliboki self-defence.jpg |
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|image_size = 260px |
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|caption = Naliboki self-defence unit |
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|alt = {{lang-pl|Zbrodnia w Nalibokach}} |
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|location = [[Naliboki]], [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]] |
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|date = May 8, 1943 |
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|weapons = [[Automatic firearm|Automatic]] and [[Semi-automatic firearm|semi-automatic]] weapons |
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|fatalities = 129 |
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|perps = [[Soviet partisans|Soviet]] |
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|victims = [[Polish people|Poles]] |
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}} |
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⚫ | The '''Naliboki massacre''' ({{lang-pl|zbrodnia w Nalibokach}}) was the 8 May 1943 [[mass killing]] of 127<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |authorlink=Timothy Snyder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maEfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 |title=Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin |date=2012-10-02 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-03297-6 |page=247 |language=en}}</ref> or 128<ref name="Komunikat_2008" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-08 |title=Polish Investigators Tie Partisans to Massacre |url=https://forward.com/news/13935/polish-investigators-tie-partisans-to-massacre-02323/ |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref> [[Polish people|Poles]] by [[Soviet partisans]] in the small town of [[Nalibaki|Naliboki]] in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]] (the town is now in [[Belarus]]).<ref name="ipn1">{{cite web | url=http://ipn.gov.pl/kszpnp/sledztwa/oddzialowa-komisja-w-lodzi/sledztwa-w-biegu | title=Śledztwo w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów radzieckich na żołnierzach Armii Krajowej i ludności cywilnej na terenie powiatów Stołpce i Wołożyn woj. nowogródzkie (S 17/01/Zk) | publisher=Instytut Pamieci Narodowej | work=Śledztwa w biegu - Zbrodnie komunistyczne | date=November 2013 | access-date=25 January 2014 |author=IPN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004359/http://ipn.gov.pl/kszpnp/sledztwa/oddzialowa-komisja-w-lodzi/sledztwa-w-biegu |archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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Before the 1939 German-Soviet [[invasion of Poland]], Naliboki was part of eastern [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]'s [[Stołpce]] County, [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek Province]]. |
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[[File:Locatienalibokiwoud.png|alt=|thumb|Location of the [[Naliboki forest]] on the map of [[Belarus]]]] |
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Following Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Soviet resistance forces operated in eastern Poland, behind German lines. Since the spring of 1942, the 125th "Stalin" unit operated in the [[Naliboki forest]]. Its first documented action was the destruction of a detachment of German police near [[Nalibaki|Naliboki]] on June 9, 1942.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=207-208}} In addition to them, two other Soviet partisan units operated in the Nalibok forest: the Nikitin's unit and the "Chkalov" unit.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=208}} Local partisans were recruited from Red Army soldiers of all ethnicities who had been cut off by German encirclements,<ref name="IPN09">{{cite journal |title=Ginęli, ratując Żydów |trans-title=Dying while Rescuing Jews |publisher=IPN Bulletin |volume=3 (98), March 2009 |url=https://ipn.gov.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/56451/1-18171.pdf |pages=99–120 |author=Kazimierz Krajewski |location=Warsaw |journal=„Opor”? „Odwet”? Czy po prostu „polityka historyczna”? O Żydach w partyzantce sowieckiej na Kresach II RP |issn=1641-9561 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222031927/http://ipn.gov.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/56451/1-18171.pdf |archive-date=2016-02-22 }}</ref> and from Ukrainians and pro-Soviet Belarusians. These troops had no contact with the [[Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement]] (CSPD), limited their attacks on German units for lack of ammunition, and raided nearby villages for supplies. They forcibly took provisions from villagers, whom they treated as enemies.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=208-209}} The murder of peasants by way of terrorizing them into giving up provisions began in 1943 when villages such as Kamień, Derewno, Borowikowszczyzna, Dziagwie, and Rodziewszczyzna were raided. Naliboki was among the raided villages.<ref name="ipn1" /> Consequently, in August 1942, by order of the Germans, the villagers formed a self-defense unit, and the village police station was opened.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=209}} Both the local self-defense and police were infiltrated by the [[Home Army]].{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=210}} |
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In the spring of 1943, [[NKVD]] leaders were sent to Soviet partisans by [[Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement|CSPD]], and the partisans were [[airdrop]]ped [[material]]. They were led by {{Ill|Vasily Chernyshov|ru|Чернышёв, Василий Ефимович}} "Platon" who, equipped with a radio station, reached the Naliboki forest in April, where he took command of the entire partisan movement in the [[Baranavichy Voblast|Baranovichi oblast]].{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=209}} In May, there were more than 5,000 partisans under his command, divided into 36 divisions and 4 brigades, most of them operating in the Naliboki forest.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=209}} |
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In the lead up to the [[massacre]], Soviet partisans had failed to recruit the Poles of Naliboki, who were loyal to the pro-Western [[Armia Krajowa]] Polish resistance organization. An agreement was signed between the Soviets and the Poles represented by a partisan unit led by Eugeniusz Klimowicz. The Polish and Soviet resistance forces divided local territory, agreed not to attack each other, and to act together against the Germans and bandits hiding in the nearby forests. The Soviets however did not respect the agreement. On the night of May 8–9, 1943, Soviet partisans from the [[Naliboki Forest]] suddenly entered Naliboki to kill the Polish partisans and [[Looting|loot]] the town.<ref name="ipn1"/> |
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In March and April 1943, the Soviet partisans arranged two meetings with the Polish self-defense leaders. During the talks, the Soviet partisans insisted that the Poles join them, but the Poles refused. However, an agreement was signed with the Poles, who were represented by Eugeniusz Klimowicz, concerning a truce and joint operations against robbers hiding in the forest. The Soviet partisans violated the truce and decided to attack Naliboki.<ref name="ipn1" /> |
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==The massacre== |
==The massacre== |
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[[File:Belarus-Naliboki-Church of Assumption of Holy Virgin-7.jpg|thumb|St. Joseph's Church in Naliboki, resistance point of the town's defenders. It was uncompleted during the war.]] |
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After the village was overrun by the Soviet partisans, men presumed to belong to the Polish resistance were rounded up and systematically executed one-by-one or in small groups near the homes they were taken from. Also killed during the attack were three Polish women, several teenagers and a ten-year-old boy. Houses were looted and then set on fire, including the town's [[Church (building)|church]], [[school]], [[fire station]] and [[post office]]. The raid took two to three hours. The partisans reported the killing of 250 people, the capture of weapons, 100 cows and 78 horses, and the destruction of a German [[garrison]]. In reality the number of victims was lower (now estimated at 120-129) and no Germans were present/killed (only one [[Belarusian Auxiliary Police|Belarusian auxiliary policeman]] happened to be sleeping in the town during the night of the attack).<ref name="ipn1"/> A few of the attackers, including a Soviet political officer, were killed by the defenders.{{Source needed|date=January 2013}} |
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In the early morning of 8 May 1943, Soviet partisans raided Naliboki.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=210}} According to Chernyshov's report, the "Dzerzhinsky" unit, the "Bolshevik" unit and the "Suvorov" unit took part in the assault and were commanded by the commander of the "Stalin" brigade.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=209}} Naliboki's self-defense was outnumbered, with only 26 rifles and 2 light machine guns.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=210}} However, the policemen managed to barricade themselves in the station, located in an unfinished church building, and retreated in the evening after the Soviet partisans left, despite heavy losses.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=210}} |
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A few of the Soviet attackers, including a political officer, were killed by the defenders.<ref name="citinet">{{Citation |author=IPN |title=Investigation Reports on Koniuchy and Naliboki |date=1 March 2002 |url=http://www.citinet.net/ak/polska.php?Page=66&Lang=EN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723042847/http://www.citinet.net/ak/polska.php?Page=66&Lang=EN |publisher=Institute of National Memory |access-date=19 January 2014 |archive-date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Polish men were dragged from their homes and shot individually or in small groups. Mass [[looting]] followed. Many farmhouses were set on fire.<ref name="ipn1" /> Also killed during the Soviet attack were three Polish women, several teenagers, and a ten-year-old boy. The town's church was set on fire, along with the public school, fire station, and post office. The raid took two to three hours. |
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Naliboki was completely burned down by the Germans four months later, in August 1943, as part of a massive anti-partisan action code-named Operation Hermann. The remaining inhabitants were taken to [[Germany]] for [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II|forced labor]]. |
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The Soviet commander reported to the [[NKVD]] the killing of 250 people, the capture of weapons, the rounding up of 100 cows and 78 horses, and the destruction of a German garrison. In reality, the number of victims was lower (now estimated at 129),<ref name="IPN09"/> no Germans were present or killed, and only one [[Belarusian Auxiliary Police|Belarusian auxiliary policeman]] happened to be sleeping in the town on the night of the attack.<ref name="ipn1"/> |
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==Bielski partisans== |
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== Aftermath == |
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{{Update|this section|date=January 2012}} |
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Naliboki was almost completely burned down on August 6, 1943, during the pacification carried out by German troops, as part of the punitive [[Operation Hermann]]. Its purpose was to destroy the partisan movement, as well as the villages in the Naliboki forest that supported it. In Naliboki alone, 100 people were killed and more than 1,500 deported to forced labor in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Partyzancki szlak po puszczy Nalibockiej - Shtetl Routes - Teatr NN |url=https://shtetlroutes.eu/pl/partyzancki-szlak-po-puszczy-nalibockiej/ |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=shtetlroutes.eu |language=pl}}</ref> |
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The Soviet NKVD persecuted the pro-German Belarusian populace at least as badly as the anti-Nazi Poles. Thousands of Belarusian collaborators were killed, including teachers, local administrators and members of the [[Belarusian Auxiliary Police]], and dozens of Polish communities were destroyed. Resulting from this, on at least ten occasions the Nowogródek District division [[:pl:Okręg Nowogródek AK|(pl)]] of the [[Armia Krajowa]] attempted to negotiate with the Soviet partisans to stop the attacks on hapless villages. Those attempts were futile. In May 1943, the entire Polish delegation was murdered by the Soviets in the powiat of [[Shchuchyn|Szczuczyn]] and the pacifications continued. Apart from Naliboki, other massacres were committed in Koniuchy ([[Koniuchy massacre]]), Szczepki, Prowżały, Kamień, Niewoniańce, Izabelin, Kaczewo, Babińsk, and Ługomowicze, including murders around Dokudów and near the Narocz and Kromań lakes, as well as in Derewno.<ref name="IPN09" /> |
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It has been alleged{{Who|date=January 2012}} that the Jewish [[Bielski partisans]] supported the Soviets (with whom they had a co-operative relationship) in the massacre. But survivors of the Bielski group have denied this, particularly after the release of a film about them, entitled ''[[Defiance (2008 film)|Defiance]]''.<ref name="hollywood">[http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,5316759,A_Hollywood_Movie_About_Heroes_or_Murderers_.html A Hollywood Movie About Heroes or Murderers?], ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'', 2008-06-16</ref><ref name=wyborcza>{{en icon}} ''[http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,6125087,The_True_Story_of_the_Bielski_Brothers.html The True Story of the Bielski Brothers]'' {{pl icon}} ''[http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,6124559,Prawdziwa_historia_Bielskich.html Prawdziwa historia Bielskich]'', ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'', 2009-01-06</ref><ref name="tch">{{cite news | author=Kamil Tchorek | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5420709.ece | title=Country split over whether Daniel Craig is film hero or villain | publisher=''[[The Times]]'' | date=2008-12-31 | accessdate=2008-12-31}}</ref> The Polish [[Institute of National Remembrance]] has been investigating the massacre. Although the IPN has not reported its findings as of April 2009, one researcher from the institute has said that there's no evidence to support the allegation that the Bielski partisans were involved in the attack.<ref>{{pl icon}} [http://www.rp.pl/artykul/61991,256256_Bielski__w_puszczy__niedomowien.html Bielski w puszczy niedomówień], ''[[Rzeczpospolita]]'', 31-01-2009</ref> |
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Home Army officer and commander of the self-defense in Naliboki, Eugeniusz Klimowicz, was accused by the Communist prosecutors after the war of "murdering Soviet partisans" because during the Naliboki massacre the defending Poles managed to shoot several attackers. As a "Fascist-Hitlerite criminal", he was sentenced to death in 1951, reduced to life imprisonment. The sentence was overturned in 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bohater w cieniu zbrodni |url=https://www.rp.pl/historia/art16525711-bohater-w-cieniu-zbrodni |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Rzeczpospolita |language=pl}}</ref> |
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In the cemetery in Naliboki, near the church, which was rebuilt in the 1990s, there is a monument with an inscription in Polish: "In tribute to 127 residents of Naliboki murdered on May 8, 1943 Parishioners." Belarusian authorities have refused to clearly identify the perpetrators of the crime.{{Sfn|Musiał|2009|p=211}} |
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== Unsubstantiated claims of Jewish perpetrators == |
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The allegation that Jewish [[Bielski partisans|partisans]] were among the perpetrators of the murder appeared in 1993 in the memoirs of Wacław Nowicki, who had obtained the information from witnesses.<ref name=":0" /> This was later picked up by Polish and Belarusian historians.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Głuchowski |first1=Piotr |last2=Kowalski |first2=Marcin |date=6 January 2009 |title=Prawdziwa historia Bielskich |language=pl |trans-title=The true story of the Bielskis |work=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]] |url=https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,6124559,prawdziwa-historia-bielskich.html |url-access=subscription |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |title=Rzecznik IPN nt. zbrodni w Nalibokach i braci Bielskich |url=https://naukawpolsce.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C358262%2Crzecznik-ipn-nt-zbrodni-w-nalibokach-i-braci-bielskich.html |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=Nauka w Polsce |language=pl}}</ref> In February 2001, the [[Canadian Polish Congress]] (CPC), a right-wing society for Polish emigres in Canada, successfully petitioned the Polish [[Institute of National Remembrance]] (IPN) to open an investigation into ethnic crimes committed by Soviet partisans — especially Jewish groups — across the [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|region]], including the [[Koniuchy massacre]] and Naliboki massacre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-08 |title=Poles Open Probe Into Jewish Role In Killings |url=https://forward.com/news/7832/poles-open-probe-into-jewish-role-in-killings/ |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=The Forward |language=en}}</ref><ref name="G&K">{{Cite journal |last1=Grabowski |first1=Jan |author-link=Jan Grabowski |last2=Klein |first2=Shira |date=2023 |title=Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25785648.2023.2168939 |journal=[[The Journal of Holocaust Research]] |pages=19–20 |doi=10.1080/25785648.2023.2168939|s2cid=257188267 |doi-access=free }}</ref> |
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Contemporaneously, the right-wing Catholic daily ''[[Nasz Dziennik]]'' published a series of articles on the Naliboki massacre, all blaming the Jews; Hanna Maria Kwiatkowska perceives the sudden focus as a balancing counterweight to the culpability of Poles in the [[Jedwabne pogrom]] whose details were coming to light.{{Sfn|Kwiatkowska|2008|p=151–152}} A local branch of the CPC even claimed, wrongly, that in Naliboki "Jewish partisans [had] boast[ed] of killing [...] 130 Poles".<ref name="G&K" /> [[Jan Grabowski]] concludes that these insinuations about Jewish involvement were the product of a right-wing political climate.<ref name="G&K" /> |
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The IPN investigation recorded multiple witnesses supporting the presence of Jewish combatants, especially, the [[Bielski partisans]], during the massacre; however, IPN did not find any documentary evidence to support such accusations.<ref name="G&K" /><ref name="Komunikat_2008">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=19 June 2008 |title=Komunikat dot. śledztwa w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów sowieckich w latach 1942–1944 na terenie byłego województwa nowogródzkiego |
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|url=https://ipn.gov.pl/pl/dla-mediow/komunikaty/10278,Komunikat-dot-sledztwa-w-sprawie-zbrodni-popelnionych-przez-partyzantow-sowiecki.html?fbclid=IwAR2_bzQIP5HdXQPg4ARnUp-PkxnR-4NcJZuT_1GGrHhkcZz2-eIHlg70zFs |access-date=2023-02-28 |
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|trans-title=Announcement regarding the investigation into the crimes committed by Soviet partisans in the years 1942–1944 in the former Nowogródek Voivodeship |
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|website=[[Institute of National Remembrance|Instytut Pamięci Narodowej]] |language=pl}}</ref> Archival records rejected the presence of Bielski's unit in the area; they would move to the vicinity of Naliboki months later, in July 1943.{{Sfn|Semczyszyn|2021|p=166}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Głuchowski |first=Piotr |title=The True Story of the Bielski Brothers |url=https://wyborcza.pl/7,76842,6125087,the-true-story-of-the-bielski-brothers.html?disableRedirects=true |website=wyborcza.pl}}</ref> In conclusion, the IPN held the massacre to have been carried out by partisans from the "Stalin" brigade, accompanied by those from the "Dzerzhinsky", "Bolshevik", and "Suvorov" units.<ref name="Komunikat_2008" /> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Koniuchy massacre]] |
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*[[List of massacres in Belarus]] |
*[[List of massacres in Belarus]] |
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*[[List of massacres in Poland]] |
*[[List of massacres in Poland]] |
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*[[Skidel revolt]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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*{{be icon}} [http://www.nn.by/index.php?c=ar&i=17051 65-годзьдзе замоўчанай налібоцкай трагедыі.] |
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== Bibliography == |
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*{{pl icon}} {{Cite web | last = | first = | title = Komunikat dot. śledztwa w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów sowieckich w latach 1942–1944 na terenie byłego województwa nowogródzkiego | url = http://ipn.gov.pl/wydzial-prasowy/komunikaty/komunikat-dot.-sledztwa-w-sprawie-zbrodni-popelnionych-przez-partyzantow-sowieck | publisher = Instytut Pamięci Narodowej | date = | accessdate = 13 January 2013}} |
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* {{cite thesis |first=Hanna Maria |last=Kwiatkowska |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1349899/1/498316.pdf |title=Conflict of images. Conflict of memories. Jewish themes in the Polish right-wing nationalistic press in the light of articles from Nasz Dziennik 1998-2007 |publisher=Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London |year=2008 |type=PhD thesis |pages=}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Musiał |first=Bogdan |title=Sowjetische Partisanen 1941-1944: Mythos und Wirklichkeit |publisher=Ferdinand Schöningh |year=2009 |language=de}} |
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* {{Cite journal |last=Semczyszyn |first=Magdalena |date=2021 |title=Żydzi w sowieckich oddziałach partyzanckich na północno-wschodnich terenach Drugiej RP 1941–1944 – zarys problematyki |trans-title=Jews in Soviet partisan units in the northeastern territories of the Second Polish Republic 1941-1944 - outline of subject matter |url=https://www.zagladazydow.pl/index.php/zz/article/view/874/945 |journal=Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały |volume=17}} |
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==Further reading== |
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*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2P1RPAAACAAJ&q=masakra+Brzostowica+Ma%C5%82a|title=The Last Day of Naliboki: The Untold Story Behind the Massacre|last=Klimowicz|first=Mieczyslaw|date=2008|publisher=American Literary Press|isbn=9781934696262|language=en}} |
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*{{cite web |title=Book Review |author=Geraldine Bereziuk Lowrey |date=March 5, 2015 |work=The Last Day of Naliboki By Mieczyslaw Klimowicz (American Literary Press, 2009) |publisher=The Am-Pol Eagle, Cheektowaga, NY |url=http://ampoleagle.com/book-review-the-last-day-of-naliboki-p7592-222.htm#puzzle,1196,1466802746297 |quote=At the time, Mieczyslaw Klimowicz, the son of Eugeniusz Klimowicz, was in his teens.}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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[[Category:Poland–Soviet Union relations]] |
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[[Category:Soviet partisans]] |
[[Category:Soviet partisans]] |
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[[Category:Massacres in 1943]] |
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[[Category:Soviet World War II crimes in Poland]] |
[[Category:Soviet World War II crimes in Poland]] |
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[[Category:World War II crimes in Belarus]] |
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[[Category:May 1943 events in Europe]] |
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[[Category:World War II massacres of Poles]] |
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[[Category:World War II massacres by the Soviet Union]] |
Revision as of 21:34, 26 March 2024
Naliboki massacre | |
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Location | Naliboki, German-occupied Poland |
Date | May 8, 1943 |
Weapons | Automatic and semi-automatic weapons |
Deaths | 129 |
Victims | Poles |
Perpetrators | Soviet |
The Naliboki massacre (Polish: zbrodnia w Nalibokach) was the 8 May 1943 mass killing of 127[1] or 128[2][3] Poles by Soviet partisans in the small town of Naliboki in German-occupied Poland (the town is now in Belarus).[4]
Background
Before the 1939 German-Soviet invasion of Poland, Naliboki was part of eastern Poland's Stołpce County, Nowogródek Province.
Following Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Soviet resistance forces operated in eastern Poland, behind German lines. Since the spring of 1942, the 125th "Stalin" unit operated in the Naliboki forest. Its first documented action was the destruction of a detachment of German police near Naliboki on June 9, 1942.[5] In addition to them, two other Soviet partisan units operated in the Nalibok forest: the Nikitin's unit and the "Chkalov" unit.[6] Local partisans were recruited from Red Army soldiers of all ethnicities who had been cut off by German encirclements,[7] and from Ukrainians and pro-Soviet Belarusians. These troops had no contact with the Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement (CSPD), limited their attacks on German units for lack of ammunition, and raided nearby villages for supplies. They forcibly took provisions from villagers, whom they treated as enemies.[8] The murder of peasants by way of terrorizing them into giving up provisions began in 1943 when villages such as Kamień, Derewno, Borowikowszczyzna, Dziagwie, and Rodziewszczyzna were raided. Naliboki was among the raided villages.[4] Consequently, in August 1942, by order of the Germans, the villagers formed a self-defense unit, and the village police station was opened.[9] Both the local self-defense and police were infiltrated by the Home Army.[10]
In the spring of 1943, NKVD leaders were sent to Soviet partisans by CSPD, and the partisans were airdropped material. They were led by Vasily Chernyshov "Platon" who, equipped with a radio station, reached the Naliboki forest in April, where he took command of the entire partisan movement in the Baranovichi oblast.[9] In May, there were more than 5,000 partisans under his command, divided into 36 divisions and 4 brigades, most of them operating in the Naliboki forest.[9]
In March and April 1943, the Soviet partisans arranged two meetings with the Polish self-defense leaders. During the talks, the Soviet partisans insisted that the Poles join them, but the Poles refused. However, an agreement was signed with the Poles, who were represented by Eugeniusz Klimowicz, concerning a truce and joint operations against robbers hiding in the forest. The Soviet partisans violated the truce and decided to attack Naliboki.[4]
The massacre
In the early morning of 8 May 1943, Soviet partisans raided Naliboki.[10] According to Chernyshov's report, the "Dzerzhinsky" unit, the "Bolshevik" unit and the "Suvorov" unit took part in the assault and were commanded by the commander of the "Stalin" brigade.[9] Naliboki's self-defense was outnumbered, with only 26 rifles and 2 light machine guns.[10] However, the policemen managed to barricade themselves in the station, located in an unfinished church building, and retreated in the evening after the Soviet partisans left, despite heavy losses.[10]
A few of the Soviet attackers, including a political officer, were killed by the defenders.[11] Polish men were dragged from their homes and shot individually or in small groups. Mass looting followed. Many farmhouses were set on fire.[4] Also killed during the Soviet attack were three Polish women, several teenagers, and a ten-year-old boy. The town's church was set on fire, along with the public school, fire station, and post office. The raid took two to three hours.
The Soviet commander reported to the NKVD the killing of 250 people, the capture of weapons, the rounding up of 100 cows and 78 horses, and the destruction of a German garrison. In reality, the number of victims was lower (now estimated at 129),[7] no Germans were present or killed, and only one Belarusian auxiliary policeman happened to be sleeping in the town on the night of the attack.[4]
Aftermath
Naliboki was almost completely burned down on August 6, 1943, during the pacification carried out by German troops, as part of the punitive Operation Hermann. Its purpose was to destroy the partisan movement, as well as the villages in the Naliboki forest that supported it. In Naliboki alone, 100 people were killed and more than 1,500 deported to forced labor in Germany.[12]
The Soviet NKVD persecuted the pro-German Belarusian populace at least as badly as the anti-Nazi Poles. Thousands of Belarusian collaborators were killed, including teachers, local administrators and members of the Belarusian Auxiliary Police, and dozens of Polish communities were destroyed. Resulting from this, on at least ten occasions the Nowogródek District division (pl) of the Armia Krajowa attempted to negotiate with the Soviet partisans to stop the attacks on hapless villages. Those attempts were futile. In May 1943, the entire Polish delegation was murdered by the Soviets in the powiat of Szczuczyn and the pacifications continued. Apart from Naliboki, other massacres were committed in Koniuchy (Koniuchy massacre), Szczepki, Prowżały, Kamień, Niewoniańce, Izabelin, Kaczewo, Babińsk, and Ługomowicze, including murders around Dokudów and near the Narocz and Kromań lakes, as well as in Derewno.[7]
Home Army officer and commander of the self-defense in Naliboki, Eugeniusz Klimowicz, was accused by the Communist prosecutors after the war of "murdering Soviet partisans" because during the Naliboki massacre the defending Poles managed to shoot several attackers. As a "Fascist-Hitlerite criminal", he was sentenced to death in 1951, reduced to life imprisonment. The sentence was overturned in 1957.[13]
In the cemetery in Naliboki, near the church, which was rebuilt in the 1990s, there is a monument with an inscription in Polish: "In tribute to 127 residents of Naliboki murdered on May 8, 1943 Parishioners." Belarusian authorities have refused to clearly identify the perpetrators of the crime.[14]
Unsubstantiated claims of Jewish perpetrators
The allegation that Jewish partisans were among the perpetrators of the murder appeared in 1993 in the memoirs of Wacław Nowicki, who had obtained the information from witnesses.[15] This was later picked up by Polish and Belarusian historians.[15] In February 2001, the Canadian Polish Congress (CPC), a right-wing society for Polish emigres in Canada, successfully petitioned the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) to open an investigation into ethnic crimes committed by Soviet partisans — especially Jewish groups — across the region, including the Koniuchy massacre and Naliboki massacre.[16][17]
Contemporaneously, the right-wing Catholic daily Nasz Dziennik published a series of articles on the Naliboki massacre, all blaming the Jews; Hanna Maria Kwiatkowska perceives the sudden focus as a balancing counterweight to the culpability of Poles in the Jedwabne pogrom whose details were coming to light.[18] A local branch of the CPC even claimed, wrongly, that in Naliboki "Jewish partisans [had] boast[ed] of killing [...] 130 Poles".[17] Jan Grabowski concludes that these insinuations about Jewish involvement were the product of a right-wing political climate.[17]
The IPN investigation recorded multiple witnesses supporting the presence of Jewish combatants, especially, the Bielski partisans, during the massacre; however, IPN did not find any documentary evidence to support such accusations.[17][2] Archival records rejected the presence of Bielski's unit in the area; they would move to the vicinity of Naliboki months later, in July 1943.[19][20] In conclusion, the IPN held the massacre to have been carried out by partisans from the "Stalin" brigade, accompanied by those from the "Dzerzhinsky", "Bolshevik", and "Suvorov" units.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Snyder, Timothy (2012-10-02). Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-465-03297-6.
- ^ a b c "Komunikat dot. śledztwa w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów sowieckich w latach 1942–1944 na terenie byłego województwa nowogródzkiego" [Announcement regarding the investigation into the crimes committed by Soviet partisans in the years 1942–1944 in the former Nowogródek Voivodeship]. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (in Polish). 19 June 2008. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ "Polish Investigators Tie Partisans to Massacre". The Forward. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e IPN (November 2013). "Śledztwo w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów radzieckich na żołnierzach Armii Krajowej i ludności cywilnej na terenie powiatów Stołpce i Wołożyn woj. nowogródzkie (S 17/01/Zk)". Śledztwa w biegu - Zbrodnie komunistyczne. Instytut Pamieci Narodowej. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Musiał 2009, p. 207-208.
- ^ Musiał 2009, p. 208.
- ^ a b c Kazimierz Krajewski. "Ginęli, ratując Żydów" [Dying while Rescuing Jews] (PDF). „Opor”? „Odwet”? Czy po prostu „polityka historyczna”? O Żydach w partyzantce sowieckiej na Kresach II RP. 3 (98), March 2009. Warsaw: IPN Bulletin: 99–120. ISSN 1641-9561. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-22.
- ^ Musiał 2009, p. 208-209.
- ^ a b c d Musiał 2009, p. 209.
- ^ a b c d Musiał 2009, p. 210.
- ^ IPN (1 March 2002), Investigation Reports on Koniuchy and Naliboki, Institute of National Memory, archived from the original on 23 July 2011, retrieved 19 January 2014
- ^ "Partyzancki szlak po puszczy Nalibockiej - Shtetl Routes - Teatr NN". shtetlroutes.eu (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ "Bohater w cieniu zbrodni". Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ Musiał 2009, p. 211.
- ^ a b Głuchowski, Piotr; Kowalski, Marcin (6 January 2009). "Prawdziwa historia Bielskich" [The true story of the Bielskis]. Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish); "Rzecznik IPN nt. zbrodni w Nalibokach i braci Bielskich". Nauka w Polsce (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ "Poles Open Probe Into Jewish Role In Killings". The Forward. 2003-08-08. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c d Grabowski, Jan; Klein, Shira (2023). "Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust". The Journal of Holocaust Research: 19–20. doi:10.1080/25785648.2023.2168939. S2CID 257188267.
- ^ Kwiatkowska 2008, p. 151–152.
- ^ Semczyszyn 2021, p. 166.
- ^ Głuchowski, Piotr. "The True Story of the Bielski Brothers". wyborcza.pl.
Bibliography
- Kwiatkowska, Hanna Maria (2008). Conflict of images. Conflict of memories. Jewish themes in the Polish right-wing nationalistic press in the light of articles from Nasz Dziennik 1998-2007 (PDF) (PhD thesis). Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London.
- Musiał, Bogdan (2009). Sowjetische Partisanen 1941-1944: Mythos und Wirklichkeit (in German). Ferdinand Schöningh.
- Semczyszyn, Magdalena (2021). "Żydzi w sowieckich oddziałach partyzanckich na północno-wschodnich terenach Drugiej RP 1941–1944 – zarys problematyki" [Jews in Soviet partisan units in the northeastern territories of the Second Polish Republic 1941-1944 - outline of subject matter]. Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały. 17.
Further reading
- Klimowicz, Mieczyslaw (2008). The Last Day of Naliboki: The Untold Story Behind the Massacre. American Literary Press. ISBN 9781934696262.
- Geraldine Bereziuk Lowrey (March 5, 2015). "Book Review". The Last Day of Naliboki By Mieczyslaw Klimowicz (American Literary Press, 2009). The Am-Pol Eagle, Cheektowaga, NY.
At the time, Mieczyslaw Klimowicz, the son of Eugeniusz Klimowicz, was in his teens.
External links