Stalin's Deadly Purge: Belarus Death Toll Revealed

During World War II, Belarus was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, resulting in devastating consequences for the country and its people. The exact number of Belarusians killed under Stalin's regime is challenging to determine due to the inaccessibility of KGB archives in Belarus. However, it is estimated that between 600,000 and 1.4 million people fell victim to Soviet repression in Belarus between the October Revolution in 1917 and Stalin's death in 1953. This figure includes intellectuals, artists, statespeople, and medical specialists who were executed, sentenced by judiciary bodies, or died as a result of forced labour and deportation. The mass extermination of Belarusian writers, artists, and statespeople in October 1937 marked the peak of the Great Purge and repressions in eastern Belarus. The impact of Stalin's policies extended beyond World War II, with tens of thousands of Belarusians deported to the gulags of Siberia upon their return from German captivity.

The 1937 mass execution of Belarusian writers, artists and statespeople

On 7 September 1937, Joseph Stalin signed a list of persons to be judged by a Soviet Military tribunal. This list was also signed by Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Klim Voroshilov and Nikolay Yezhov. The list of people from the Belarusian SSR sentenced to be executed included 103 persons, and six more people were sentenced to ten or more years in concentration camps. The executions took place in the Minsk internal NKVD prison, known as the Amerikanka.

The majority of those sentenced to death were executed on the night of 29-30 October 1937. Their innocence was later admitted by the Soviet Union after Stalin's death.

The list of executed persons included:

• Mikałaj Arabej, head of the primary education department of the Communist Party of Byelorussia
• Anatol Volny, artist
• Moyshe Kulbak, Yiddish language writer
• Maksim Laŭkoŭ, justice minister of Belarus
• Valery Marakoŭ, poet
• Piatro Chatuloŭ, literature critic
• Michaś Čarot, poet
• Viktar Jarkin, official at the Dniapro-Dzvina river steamboats navigation in Homel

Journalist Leanid Marakoŭ alleged that between 3 March 1937 and 22 May 1938, over 100,000 people fell victim to repressions by the Soviet authorities.

The Great Terror and other shooting actions

The Great Terror, also known as the Great Purge, was a violent campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1938, during which Joseph Stalin targeted so-called "enemies of the people". The campaign was marked by widespread police surveillance, widespread arrests, and the persecution of those who were deemed threatening to the Soviet state.

In Belarus, the Great Terror was characterised by the mass extermination of Belarusian writers, artists, and statespeople by the occupying Soviet Union authorities. On the night of October 29-30, 1937, more than 100 notable persons were executed, most of whom were from a list of people to be judged by a Soviet Military commission, signed by Stalin himself. Their innocence was later admitted by the Soviet Union after Stalin's death.

The Great Terror was not the only instance of Stalin's violence against the people of Belarus. During the three years of Nazi occupation, more than two million people were killed in Belarus, around a quarter of the region's population. The ethnically Slavic Byelorussian population was intended to be exterminated, expelled, or enslaved as part of the German ethnic cleansing operation named Generalplan Ost. At least 5,295 Byelorussian settlements were destroyed by the Nazis, and more than 600 villages had their entire population annihilated.

Stalin's regime also orchestrated and profited from the entry of thousands of irregular migrants from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Once these migrants reached Belarus, they were encouraged and sometimes forced to attempt irregular border crossings into neighbouring countries. When they failed to enter the EU, there were credible reports that Belarusian security services beat the migrants and forced them to remain at the border.

Stalin's regime also violently suppressed mass protests, with at least six people dying as a result of police violence or abuse, or the authorities' failure to provide medical assistance.

The total number of Belarusian people killed by Stalin is unknown, but it is estimated that the Stalinist death toll is at least 15 million people.

The Belarusian partisans

The Central Headquarters of the Partisan Movement, headed by Panteleimon Ponomarenko, was established on May 30, 1942, to coordinate partisan operations. By the end of 1941, more than two thousand partisan detachments, with over 90,000 personnel, were operating in German-occupied territories. The logistical challenges faced by the partisans were significant, especially during the winter of 1941-1942, when they suffered from severe shortages of ammunition, medicine, and supplies. However, the turning point came with the Soviet Winter offensive of 1942, which boosted morale and improved logistical support.

The partisans' activities had a significant impact. During the liberation of Belarus in 1944, they were considered the fourth Belarusian front, effectively harassing German troops and hampering their operations. The partisans also played a crucial role in disrupting German supply lines during the Battle of Kursk, which resulted in a Soviet victory.

In addition to their military contributions, the Belarusian partisans had a lasting impact on the culture of Belarus. Many partisans later became prominent writers and members of the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front. The partisan movement has also been evoked in both government and opposition circles in modern Belarus, with each side drawing comparisons to their opponents.

The Belarusian victims of the Holocaust

The Holocaust in Belarus, which took place during the three-year Nazi occupation of the country, resulted in the extermination of virtually the entire Jewish population. This period of German occupation, which began with Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, proved catastrophic for the Jews of Belarus, with estimates of Jewish deaths ranging from 500,000 to 550,000. The invasion and occupation also resulted in heavy human casualties for the ethnically Slavic Byelorussian population, who were intended to be exterminated, expelled, or enslaved as part of the German ethnic cleansing operation named Generalplan Ost.

The German invasion and occupation caused immense destruction and loss of life in Belarus. The country lost a quarter of its pre-war population during World War II, including a significant portion of its intellectual elite. The Nazis destroyed over 9,200 villages and settlements, with some settlements burned multiple times, leaving approximately 682,000 buildings in ruins. The major towns of Minsk and Vitebsk lost over 80% of their buildings and city infrastructure. The human toll of the occupation is estimated to be as high as three million killed, or 30% of the population. This figure includes the hundreds of thousands of civilians who were victims of mass murder, as well as the 380,000 people deported for slave labour.

The Belarusian capital, Minsk, was the site of one of the largest Jewish ghettos in Soviet Belarus before the conclusion of World War II. The Minsk Ghetto was created by the Germans shortly after the invasion, and the vast majority of its Jewish population was killed during the Holocaust. The Nazis employed a variety of methods for these killings, including shooting over pits and asphyxiation in gas vans. The Khatyn massacre, in which an entire village was annihilated, stands as a testament to the brutality inflicted upon the Belarusian people.

The Soviet partisans played a significant role in the resistance against the German occupation, inflicting heavy damage on German supply lines and communications. Hiding in the woods and swamps, they disrupted railway tracks, bridges, and telegraph wires, and launched attacks on supply depots, fuel dumps, and transports. However, some historians argue that these partisan attacks may have inadvertently provoked German reprisals, contributing to the high death toll.

The exact number of Belarusian victims of Soviet repression during the Stalin era is challenging to determine due to the inaccessibility of KGB archives in Belarus. Estimates vary, with some placing the figure at approximately 600,000, while others suggest a higher number of over 1.4 million. Historian Vasil Kushner asserts that 358,686 people were sentenced to death in Belarus between 1917 and 1953. Additionally, it is estimated that around 200,000 victims of Soviet political repression were rehabilitated in Belarus between 1954 and 2000.

The mass extermination of Belarusian writers, artists, and statespeople in October 1937 marked a peak in the Great Purge and repressions. Over 100 notable individuals were executed, most of them on the night of October 29-30, 1937. Their innocence was later acknowledged by the Soviet Union after Stalin's death. Among the victims were prominent figures such as Mikałaj Arabej, head of the primary education department of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, and Alaksandar Varončanka, the people's commissar for education in Belarus.

The Belarusian school of history studies suffered a significant blow during this period, with the Soviets either physically exterminating or banning from further research 32 historians from Minsk. Their works were excluded from libraries, effectively erasing their contributions from historical records.

The literary community in Belarus was also severely impacted, with an estimated 80-90% of published Belarusian writers falling victim to the repressions. This included renowned writers such as Todar Klaštorny and Andrej Mryj. The medical profession was not spared either, with a total of 1520 Belarusian medical specialists becoming victims of repressions, including doctors, nurses, and veterinarians.

In conclusion, the Holocaust in Belarus resulted in the devastating loss of life, the destruction of entire communities, and the decimation of the country's intellectual and cultural elite. The Nazi occupation, coupled with Soviet repression, left indelible scars on the nation, shaping its history and collective memory.

The Belarusian victims of Soviet political repression

During the Soviet Union's occupation of Belarus, hundreds of thousands of people suffered persecution and fell victim to Soviet political repression. The exact number is hard to determine as the KGB archives in Belarus are still inaccessible to historians. However, estimates suggest that between 600,000 and 1.4 million people were affected by the repression, with 250,000 sentenced by the judiciary or executed by extrajudicial bodies.

The repression targeted various segments of Belarusian society, including writers, artists, statespeople, academicians, scientists, and medical specialists. In October 1937, more than 100 notable persons, mostly writers, artists, and statespeople, were executed by the Soviet Union occupying authorities. This event marked the peak of the Great Purge and the repressions of Belarusians in the Soviet-controlled area of eastern Belarus. The list of people sentenced to execution included well-known figures such as Mikałaj Arabej, head of the primary education department of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, Alaksandar Varončanka, the People's Commissar for Education of Belarus, and Maksim Laŭkoŭ, the Justice Minister of Belarus. Overall, it is estimated that 80% of published Belarusian writers during the 1920s and 1930s became victims of Soviet repression, either through physical extermination or by being banned from further research and having their works excluded from libraries.

The Soviet repression also had a significant impact on the academic community in Belarus. According to historian Vasil Kushner, in the 1930s, only 26 Belarusian academicians and 6 correspondent members of the Belarusian Science Academy were left unaffected by the repressions. Additionally, out of 139 PhD students in Belarus as of 1934, only six managed to escape execution. The repression effectively halted any humanities research in the country.

The medical field also suffered greatly during this period. A total of 1520 Belarusian medical specialists became victims of the repressions, including doctors, nurses, veterinarians, and their family members.

The Belarusian people experienced not only political repression but also significant losses during World War II. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 led to a three-year German military occupation of Belarus, resulting in the death of up to a third of the country's population, including almost its entire Jewish population. The Belarusian partisans played a crucial role in the resistance against the Germans, but their actions also provoked German reprisals, contributing to the high death toll.

Overall, the Soviet political repression and World War II had a devastating impact on Belarus, resulting in immense loss of life, destruction of cultural and intellectual capital, and dashing the hopes of Belarusians for independent nationhood.

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