Naliboki massacre was the mass killing of about 128 locals in the town of Naliboki (then German occupied Poland, now Western Belarus) on May 8, 1943, by Soviet partisans.
After a failed attempt by the Soviet partisans to recruit the locals into their formations, an agreement was signed between the Soviets and local people represented by a self-defense unit (led by Eugeniusz Klimowicz) to divide the territory, not to attack each other, and to act together against the Germans and a bandit groups also based in the nearby forests. The Soviets did not respect the agreement and on the night of May 8-9, 1943, Soviet partisans from the Naliboki Forest, possibly including the Jewish Bielski partisans, invaded Naliboki to exterminate the pro-Polish fighters and pillage the town.
After the village was quickly overrun by the partisans, the local men presumed to belong to Armia Krajowa, who were the majority of the victims, were rounded up and then systematically executed one by one or in small groups near the homes they were taken from. Also killed were three women, several teenagers and a ten-year-old boy. Houses were looted and then set on fire, including the town's church, school, fire station and post office. The whole raid took only 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 German was present/killed; only one Belarussian auxiliary policeman happened to be sleeping in the town during the night of the attack. A few of the attackers were also killed.
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 driven off into Germany for forced labor.
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References
- Template:Be icon 65-годзьдзе замоўчанай налібоцкай трагедыі.
- Template:Pl icon Śledztwo w sprawie zbrodni popełnionych przez partyzantów radzieckich na żołnierzach Armii Krajowej i ludności cywilnej na terenie powiatów Stołpce i Wołożyn.
- Template:Pl icon Informacja o stanie śledztwa w sprawie zabójstwa w maju 1943 roku mieszkańców miasteczka Naliboki pow. Stołpce woj. nowogródzkie