Bronislav Vladislavovich Stroganof Kaminski (russian: Бронисла́в Владисла́вович Ками́нский, 16 June 1899 – 28 August 1944) was a Russian Nazi collaborator
and the commander of the
Kaminski Brigade
Kaminski Brigade, also known as Waffen-Sturm-Brigade der SS RONA, was a Collaboration in German-occupied Soviet Union, collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in Axis powers, Axis-occupi ...
, an
anti-partisan and rear-security formation made up of people from the so-called
Lokot Autonomy
The Lokot Autonomy (russian: Ло́котское самоуправле́ние, lit=Lókotskoye samoupravléniye) or Lokot Republic (russian: Ло́котская республика, lit=Lókotskaya respublika, german: Republik Lokot) was an ...
territory in the
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
occupied areas of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, which was later incorporated into the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
as the ''SS Sturmbrigade RONA'' (Russian People Liberation Army – ''Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya'', RONA). Older publications mistakenly give his first name as ''Mieczyslaw''.
[Janusz Marszalec: Z krzyżem świętego Jerzego, "Polityka" nr 31/2001, ss.66-68] Under Kaminski's command, the unit committed numerous war crimes and atrocities in the German-occupied Soviet Union and Poland.
Early life
Bronislav (also transliterated German-style as "Bronislaw") Kaminski was born in Vitebsk Governorate, the Russian Empire, now in Polotsk District, Belarus. His father was an
ethnic Pole and his mother was an
ethnic German
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
(later termed
Volksdeutsch
In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...
in Nazi Germany).
He studied at the
Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, abbreviated as SPbPU (also, formerly "Saint Petersburg State Technical University", abbreviated as SPbSTU), is a Russian technical university located in Saint Petersburg. Other former names i ...
and then served in the Red Army during the
Russian Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Russian Civil War
, partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I
, image =
, caption = Clockwise from top left:
{{flatlist,
*Soldiers ...
. After demobilization he returned to the Institute, and after graduation worked at a chemical plant.
In 1935 he was expelled from the Soviet Union Communist Party, and in 1937 during the
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...
he was arrested for criticising Stalin's policy of
farm collectivisation, as well as working with Germans and Poles. He was accused of "belonging to a counter-revolutionary group". In 1941 he was released from prison and settled in
Bryansk
Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population:
Geography Urban la ...
, where he obtained a position as an engineer in the local distillery.
Lokot Republic leader
By October 1941, the German military advance into the Soviet Union reached the area of Lokot near the city of Bryansk, which was itself captured by German forces on 6 October 1941. In November 1941, Bronislav Kaminski, along with his close friend, a local technical school teacher, , approached the German military administration with a proposal to assist the Germans in establishing a civil administration and local police. Voskoboinik was appointed by the Germans as the Starosta (or Mayor) of the "Lokot volost" and the head of the German-controlled local militia. Kaminski became Voskoboinik's deputy. Working with
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in th ...
the two collaborators organized a militia of 10,000 armed hands with the aim of crushing the Russian partisans. After the death in combat of Voskoboinik on 8 January 1942, Kaminski took over as Mayor and leader of the militia. In 1942 the militia was named Russian Liberation National Army (RONA) (rus. Русская Освободительная Народная Армия), which reached a force of tens of thousands. During this time Kaminski was leader of the Lokot Republic, which had half a million inhabitants in its territory.
In mid March 1942, Kaminski's representative at the German Second Panzer Army at
Orel assured the commanders that Kaminski's unit was "ready to actively fight the guerrillas" as well as to carry on a propaganda campaign against "
Jewish Bolshevism
Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an anti-communist and antisemitic canard, which alleges that the Jews were the originators of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and that they held primary power among the Bolsheviks who led the revo ...
" and
Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...
. Soon after the commander of the
2nd Army Generaloberst
Rudolf Schmidt, appointed Kaminski Major of the Army Rear Area 532, centered on Lokot. On 19 July 1942, after approval by the Commander of
Army Group Centre, Field Marshal
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge (30 October 1882 – 19 August 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II who held commands on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He commanded the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht during the invasio ...
, Schmidt and the 532 Area commander, Kaminski received a degree of autonomy and nominal self-governing authority, under the supervision of Major
von Veltheim and Colonel
Rübsam. Kaminski was appointed the Chief Mayor of the republic of Lokot, and brigade commander of the local militia. He administered local government and established his own courts, jails and newspaper. Private enterprise was encouraged and
collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
abolished.
From June 1942, Kaminski's militia took part in the major action codenamed "Operation Vogelsang", as a part of General
Werner von Gilsa
__NOTOC__
Werner Freiherr von und zu Gilsa (4 March 1889 – 8 May 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II, whose last assignment was as military commandant of Dresden.
In 1936 he was the commander of the olympic vi ...
's Kampfgruppe (taskforce) Gilsa II. In autumn 1942, Kaminski ordered a compulsory draft into the militia of able-bodied men in the area. Units were also reinforced with "volunteers" drafted from Soviet POWs at nearby Nazi concentration camps. Kaminski ordered the collection of abandoned (usually because of minor mechanical failures, or lack of fuel) Soviet tanks and armored cars. By November 1942, his unit was in possession of at least two
BT-7
The BT-7 BT (russian: БТ) is the Russian abbreviation for "fast tank" (, ). was the last of the BT series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. It was lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed fo ...
tanks and one 76 mm artillery piece. Owing to a lack of military uniform and boots, the Germans provided Kaminski's brigade with enough used uniforms to outfit four battalions. However, by late 1942, the militia of the
Lokot Republic had expanded to the size of a 14-
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
s
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
B ...
, around 8,000 men under arms. By January 1943 the brigade had 9,828 men, including an armored unit with one heavy KV-II, two medium T-34, three BT-7 and two BT-5 light tanks and three armoured cars (one BA-10, two BA-20).
The brigade's structure was reorganized in the spring of 1943. After the reorganization, the brigade consisted of 5 regiments with 3 battalions each, an anti-aircraft battalion (3 AA guns and 4 heavy machine guns) and an armored unit. A separate "guard" battalion was also created, bringing the total brigade strength up to an estimated 12 thousand men.
The brigade took part, alongside other German units, in the May–June 1943
Operation Zigeunerbaron ("Gypsy Baron"). Following this operation, the brigade was part of
Operation Citadel
Operation Citadel (german: Unternehmen Zitadelle) was a German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein during the Second World War on ...
, the massive offensive to destroy the
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
salient. This operation was followed by similar operations, Freischütz and Tannhäuser, where the brigade, together with other units under German command, was involved in action against
partisans and also took part in
reprisal
A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extreme ...
operations against the civilian population.
In the summer of 1943, the brigade began to suffer major desertions, due in part to the recent Soviet victories, but also due in part to the efforts of the partisans to "turn" as many of Kaminski's troops as possible. As a part of these efforts, there were several attempts on Kaminski's life. Each time, Kaminski narrowly avoided death and any captured conspirators were punished by execution. Several German officers passing through Lokot reported seeing bodies hanging from
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
outside Kaminski's headquarters. Fearing a breakdown in command, a German liaison staff was attached to Kaminski's HQ to restructure the brigade and return stability to the unit.
According to post-war Soviet estimates, up to 10,000 civilians were killed during the existence of the Kaminski formation in Lokot.
In Belarus
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-280-1075-10A, Russland, Borislaw Kaminski](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-280-1075-10A%2C_Russland%2C_Borislaw_Kaminski.jpg)
After the failure of the German
Operation Citadel
Operation Citadel (german: Unternehmen Zitadelle) was a German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein during the Second World War on ...
, Soviet counter offensives forced the brigade to retreat. On 29 July 1943 Kaminski issued orders for the evacuation of the property and families of the RONA brigade and the Lokot authorities. Up to 30 thousand persons (10-11 thousand of them were brigade members) were transferred by the Germans to the
Lepel
Lyepyel ( be, Ле́пель, Liepieĺ; pl, Lepel; russian: Ле́пель, Lepel, ; yi, ליעפּליע, Li'epli'e) is a town located in the center of the Lyepyel Raion (district) in the Vitebsk Province of Belarus near Lyepyel Lake. Lyepye ...
area of
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...
in Belarus by the end of August 1943. The brigade, together with "evacuated" civilians, finally settled in the
Lepel
Lyepyel ( be, Ле́пель, Liepieĺ; pl, Lepel; russian: Ле́пель, Lepel, ; yi, ליעפּליע, Li'epli'e) is a town located in the center of the Lyepyel Raion (district) in the Vitebsk Province of Belarus near Lyepyel Lake. Lyepye ...
area of
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...
. This area had active partisans, and the brigade was involved in heavy combat for the rest of the year.
During the retreat, desertions from the brigade increased greatly, and the entire formation seemed close to disintegration. When the commander of the Second Regiment, Major Tarasov, decided to join the
Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. The ...
with all his regiment (he was offered amnesty if his entire regiment joined the partisans), Kaminski flew to his headquarters and according to one account, strangled him and eight others in front of his men. Despite this, up to 200 people deserted within the following two days. By the beginning of October 1943, the brigade had lost two thirds of its personnel, while still in possession of 12 tanks (8 of them T-34s), one 122 mm, three 76 mm and eight 45 mm artillery pieces.
At the end of 1943, after German withdrawal from Russia to Belarus, local Belarus police, Soviet prisoners of war and convicts freed from prison were incorporated into the brigade. The force became part of the Waffen-SS and was formed as Stormtroopers Brigade "Kaminski". On 27 January 1944,
Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
rewarded Kaminski's "achievements" by decorating him with the
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
, 2nd Class, and on the same day with the Iron Cross, 1st Class.
On 15 February 1944, Kaminski issued an order for the brigade and Lokot administration to retreat further west to the
Dzyatlava
Dziatlava or Dyatlovo ( be, Дзятлава, lt, Zietela, pl, Zdzięcioł, russian: italic=yes, Дзенціолъ until the 1870s, thereafter ''Дятлово'', yi, זשעטל, Zhetl) is a town in Belarus in the Grodno Region, about 165&nbs ...
area in western Belarus. At this point, the brigade's ranks were replenished by the addition of police forces from Belarus. In March 1944, the brigade was renamed Volksheer-Brigade ''Kaminski''. From 11 April 1944, it was attached to SS-Kampfgruppe
von Gottberg, which also included the notorious
Dirlewanger unit, and participated in a
mass murder and security operations: Regenschauer (up to 7,000 "bandits" reported as killed), Frühlingsfest (7,011 "bandits" reported as killed and 1,065 weapons captured) and Kormoran (7,697 "bandits" reported as killed and 325 weapons captured). During these operations, local civilians were murdered as "suspected partisans" or deported as slave laborers, their villages burnt down.
In the SS
In June 1944, the brigade was absorbed as a part of the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
and renamed Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, with Kaminski being given the rank of ''Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS'', the only man with such rank.
As the result of
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
, the anti-partisan activities of the brigade were halted and its personnel (6-7,000 people, though some sources state 3-4,000) were collected at the SS training camp
Neuhammer. Plans were made for a non-German SS Division, and the structure was laid down for the 29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.1). On 1 August 1944 Kaminski received a new rank - Waffen-Brigadeführer and Major-General of the Waffen-SS.
Warsaw Uprising
In 1944 Kaminsky took part in the crushing of the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
, in the Ochota area, where the Kaminski Brigade committed numerous atrocities (murder, rape and robbery). His troops committed almost 700 murders though numbering only 1% of German forces at the time of the Warsaw uprising.
Kaminski thought himself to have direct authority from the SS commander
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
and he did not want to accept orders from SS General
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski
Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski (born Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski; 1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State" ...
, who was in charge of German forces in Warsaw.
The Warsaw Uprising began 1 August 1944. On 4 August 1944, a combat-ready regiment of the brigade was ordered to assist in crushing the rebellion. SS-Gruppenführer
Heinz Reinefarth
Heinz Reinefarth (26 December 1903 – 7 May 1979) was a German SS commander during World War II and government official in West Germany after the war. During the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944 his troops committed numerous atrocities. After t ...
was placed in charge of Kampfgruppe Reinefarth, a pacification unit which consisted of the Kaminski along with the Dirlewanger and several other Ordnungspolizei and SS rear area units. Hitler personally requested Kaminski's assistance, and the latter obliged by gathering a task force of 1,700 unmarried men and sending them (some sources mentioned that they had four T-34 tanks, one SU-76 and a few artillery pieces) to Warsaw as a mixed regiment under field command of Kaminski's brigade chief-of-staff, SS-Sturmbannführer Yuri Frolov. Later in 1945 Frolov stated that the regiment had up to 1,600 men and 7 artillery pieces and 4 mortars.
Frolov noted in 1944 that Kaminski gave his men permission to
loot and many did. Kaminski's brigade soon lost any combat worthiness and Kaminski himself focused entirely on collecting valuables stolen from civilian homes.
Perhaps 10,000 residents of Warsaw were killed in the
Ochota massacre, most murdered by Kaminski's men.
Death
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
used the misconduct of the Warsaw group as a pretext for having Kaminski and his leadership executed after trial by
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
in Litzmannstadt (
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...
). They were tried for stealing the ''property of the Reich'', as the stolen property was to have been delivered to Himmler, but Kaminski and his men had attempted to keep it for themselves.
Also executed with Kaminski was his brigade chief-of-staff Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin, his driver, and his brigade surgeon, F.N. Zabora, and his translator, G . Sadovsky
The men of the brigade were given the false explanation that Kaminski had been killed by
Polish partisans
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
. When Kaminski's men rejected this explanation, the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
took Kaminski's car, pushed it into a ditch, shot it up with a
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
, and smeared goose blood all over it, as evidence. The demoralized unit was soon moved out of town and stationed to the north, far from any partisan activity.
The death of Kaminski and the unreliability of his troops as a combat unit brought the plans to expand the Kaminski Brigade to a division to an end. After Kaminski's death, his unit was placed under the command of SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei
Christoph Diehm.
Awards and decorations
*
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
of 1939
** 1st Class (27 Jan 1944)
** 2nd Class (27 Jan 1944)
*
Eastern Front Medal
The Eastern Medal (german: Ostmedaille), officially the Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal (german: Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, links=no), was a military award of the ''Wehrmacht'' which was created by ordinance of Adolf Hi ...
*
Anti-Partisan Guerrilla Warfare Badge (31 July 1944)
*
Ostvolk Medal 1st and 2nd class (1944)
*
Wound Badge
The Wound Badge (german: Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between ...
in Black
References
* Davies, Norman, ''Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw ''. (2004) /
* Janusz Marszalec: "Z krzyżem świętego Jerzego", ''Polityka'' nr 31/2001, ss.66-68
* Reitlinger, Gerald, ''The SS: Alibi of a Nation 1922-1945'' (1981) ASIN: B001KNA5RO
* Stein, George H., ''The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-45''. (1994) /
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminski, Bronislaw
1899 births
1944 deaths
People from Polatsk District
People from Polotsky Uyezd
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
People from the Russian Empire of German descent
Soviet people of Polish descent
Soviet people of German descent
SS-Brigadeführer
Russian anti-communists
Soviet fascists
Warlords
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University alumni
Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War
Warsaw Uprising German forces
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class
Executed military personnel
Deaths by firearm in Poland
Nazis convicted of war crimes
People executed for war crimes
Belarusian people executed by Nazi Germany
Belarusian collaborators with Nazi Germany
Executed Soviet collaborators with Nazi Germany
People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad
Russian people executed by Nazi Germany
Executed Soviet people from Belarus
Holocaust perpetrators in Poland
Russian Waffen-SS personnel
Nazis executed by Nazi Germany
Executed mass murderers