Incident at Baranivka: German reprisals and the Soviet partisan movement in Ukraine, October-December 1941

Journal of Modern History

Volumn 71, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 585-623

  Anderson, Truman ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 20644459886     PISSN: 00222801     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/235290     Document Type: Article

References (126)

1. Throughout this text, I have transliterated Ukrainian and Russian words in accordance with the Library of Congress system, using the respective conventions for each language (e.g., "geroi" from Russian but "Hryhorii" from Ukrainian). Where place names are concerned, I have used Ukrainian variants in the body of my essay in preference to the Russian equivalents usually found in German sources ("Kharkiv" instead of "Kharkov"). I have made isolated exceptions for a few well known English variants like "Kiev" (Kyiv). In document references, I have kept the original form of place names (e.g., "Myrhorod" in Ukrainian-language documents but "Mirgorod" in Russian and German sources).
2. There are several sources which describe the attack on Col. Sinz (usually spelled incorrectly as "Zins" in Heeresgebiet records) and his party. The most important is a detailed statement made by Corp. Schneider after his arrival in Myrhorod. See (Abschrift) Ortskommandantur Mirgorod Gendarmeriegruppe, 8. November 1941, BA-MA (Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg), RH26-62/41. Soviet sources are more numerous but also more problematic, in that most of them were written at least two years after the event and tend to contradict each other in some respects, particularly on the role played by Dutsia Borodai, who was later killed by German authorities for her connections with the underground and is today remembered in Baranivka as a Soviet martyr. An undated statement made by the Baranivka village council (probably written in 1944) gives the wrong date for the attack and states that the firefight at the clinic lasted more than three hours: Kharakteristika Baranovskogo S-soveta s. 1941 r. po 1944 r, DAPO (Derzhavnyi arkhiv Poltavs'koi oblast, Poltava) 1876/8/108. A retrospective series of documents prepared by the Shyshaky district party committee of the Communist Party Ukraine contains several relevant reports. The most detailed was written by a member of the partisan group led by Tutka who actually participated in the attack. It gives the date of the incident as November 5-6, and, as mentioned above, states that an unidentified teenage boy rather than Borodai had brought word of Sinz's arrival to the group at Kuibysheve. It also contradicts Schneider's account by stating that the Germans were the first to open fire and adds that Sinz and his men killed Martynenko as the partisans were attacking the clinic. This same document contains another description of the attack written by an unknown author, which claims that Martynenko was shot by the Germans as he opened a window to let the partisans in. See Shishastkii raion kompartii Ukrainy, khronologicheskaia zapiska raionnoi komissii . . . DAPO 105/1/358. Another account prepared by the Shyshaky raikom, openly propagandistic in tone, mentions the attack only briefly: Shishatskii Raikom Kompartii Ukrainy, Pokazanieob''iasitel'nyezapiskii drugie dokumenty . . .DAPO 105/ 1/357. There are two published accounts available, both of them fairly recent, which develop the Borodai story in detail: Dzvony pam'yati: Kniga pro tragediiu mist i sil Poltavshchyny, Kharkivshchyny, Voroshilovgradshchyny ta Donechchyny, spilundrovanykh fashistamiu roky viiny (Kiev, 1988), pp. 25-36;
3. Vinok bezsmertia: Kniga-Memorial (Kiev, 1988), pp. 331-37. Neither of these books provides footnotes, and most of the information is apparently derived from conversations with elderly witnesses. While the involvement of Borodai in the attack on Sinz cannot be completely discounted, it is nevertheless interesting that the archival sources make no mention of it. Overall, Schneider's account of these events is the least suspect, and where conflicts exist between Soviet sources and Schneider's report, I have given greater weight to the latter.
4. For messages that spread word of the attack throughout the German chain-of-command, see Rückw. Heeresgebiet Süd KTB (la), 411109 entry, U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C. - Captured German Documents Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va. (hereafter USNA) T-501/4; Fernschreiben 62. Inf. Div. Ia/Ic an Befh. rückw. H.Geb. Süd Ia/Ic 9.11.41, USNA T-501/6; (Femschreiben) Befh. r. H.G. Süd la an 62. Inf. Div. 9.11.41, 22:25, USNA T-501/6; (Fernschreiben) Bfh. rückw. H. Geb. Süd an Heeresgruppe Süd 9.11.41, 22:40, USNA T-501/6; (Fernschreiben) Bfh. rückw. H.Geb. Süd la an Sich. Div. 213, Sich. Div. 444, Ers. Brig. 202, Rum. VI A.K. 9.11.41, 23:00, USNA T501/6.
5. One can gain some idea of just how vast the literature is from Rolf-Dieter Müller and Gerd Ueberschär, Hitler's War in the East 1941-1945: A Critical Assessment (New York, 1997).
6. This provides an excellent overview of current historiography and five thematically organized bibliographies. It is the emphasis on the ideological character of the war in the east that sets more recent research apart from the early postwar historiography. Of particular importance is the degree to which these newer works assign responsibility for Nazi crimes in the east very broadly, especially to the army. Among the more important titles are Horst Boog et al., Der Angriff auf die Sowjetunion (Stuttgart, 1983), vol. 4 of the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt's official history, Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (hereafter DRZW) (Stuttgart, 1979-90);
7. Omer Bartov, Hitler's Army (New York, 1992);
8. Ernst Klee and Willi Dreßen, Gott mit Uns: Der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg im Osten, 1939-1945 (Frankfurt a.M., 1989);
9. Timothy Mulligan, The Politics of Illusion and Empire: German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1941-1943 (New York, 1988);
10. Theo Schulte,The German Army and Nazi Politics in Occupied Russia (Oxford, 1989);
11. Christian Streit, Keine Kameraden: Die Wehrmacht und die sowjetischen Kriegsgefangenen, 1941-1945 (Stuttgart, 1978);
12. Bernd Wegner, ed., Zwei Wege nach Moskau (Munich, 1991);
13. Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann, eds., Vernichtungskrieg: Verbrechen der Wehrmacht, 1941-1944 (Hamburg, 1995);
14. Helmut Krausnick and H. Wilhelm, Die Truppe des Weltanschauungkrieges: Die Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheitsdienstes, 1938-1942 (Stuttgart, 1981).
15. Some of the earlier works on the German occupation retain much of their usefulness, though one must be aware of the degree to which they overlook the complicity of the army in the extermination of the Jews of the Soviet Union, the plunder of the occupied areas, the mass murder of Soviet prisoners of war, and the general maltreatment of the Soviet civil population: Alexander Dallin, German Rule in Russia, 1941-1945 (London, 1957);
16. Gerald Reitlinger, The House Built on Sand: The Conflicts of German Policy in Russia (London, 1960);
17. John Armstrong, ed., Soviet Partisans in World War Two (Madison, Wis., 1964).
18. The Soviet historiography of the occupation is also enormous. Despite their obvious ideological prejudices, many of these works are useful, particularly those dealing with specific regions (oblasts). Care must be taken, however, to check the factual content against German records or unpublished Soviet documents, for distortions and omissions have been discovered in this literature in the past: Istoriia Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1941-1945 (Moscow, 1960-64);
19. Nemetsko-fashistskii okkupationnyi rezhim, 1941-1944 (Moscow, 1965);
20. P. N. Iemets' and O. P. Samoilenko, Poltavshchyna v roky Velykoi Vitryznianoi viiny (Kharkiv, 1965).
21. In the 1980s, a number of document collections appeared, e.g., Sovetskaia Ukraina v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny, 1941-1945 (Kiev, 1980);
22. Sumskaia Oblast'v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny, 1941-1945 (Kiev, 1988).
23. For Soviet works on the partisan movement, see n. 12 below. Ukrainian émigré historians have also produced a large corpus of work on the German occupation, much of it colored by a Ukrainian nationalist perspective: Yuri Boshyk, ed., Ukraine during World War II: History and Its Aftermath (Edmonton, 1986);
24. Ihor Kamenetsky, Hitler's Occupation of Ukraine, 1941-1944: A Study of Totalitarian Imperialism (Milwaukee, Wis., 1956);
25. Roman Illnytzkyj, Deutschland und die Ukraine, 1934-1945: Tatsachen europäischer Ostpolitik (Munich, 1955).
26. For an outstanding bibliography on the German occupation of Ukraine, see Karel C. Berkhoff, "Ukraine under Nazi Rule (1941-1944): Sources and Finding Aids," Jahrbücher für die Geschichte Osteuropas, no. 45 (1997), pp. 85-103 and pp. 274-309.
27. Schulte.
28. For an insightful review of the development of this theme in the literature, see Schulte, pp. 1-27.
29. Bartov. For examples of earlier works criticized by Bartov, see Hans Mommsen, "Kriegserfahrungen," in Ü Leben im Krieg, ed. Ulrich Borsdorf and Mathilde Jamin (Reinbeck, 1989);
30. Andreas Hillgruber, Zweierlei Untergang: Die Zerschlagung des Deutschen Reiches und das Ende des europäischen Judentums (Berlin, 1986);
31. E. A. Shils and M. Janowitz, "Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II," Public Opinion Quarterly 12 (1948): 208-315.
32. See, e.g., Hannes Heer's interview with Christian Streit, Manfred Messerschmidt, and Jürgen Förster in Mittelweg 36 (June-July 1994), pp. 41-51;
33. Theo Schulte, "Korück 582," in Heer and Naumann, eds., pp. 323-42.
34. Hannes Heer, "Die Logik des Vernichtungskrieges: Wehrmacht und Partisanenkampf," in Heer and Naumann, pp. 104-56.
35. German reprisals in the Franco-Prussian and First World Wars are dealt with in the following works: Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War (London, 1961);
36. Richard Fattig, "Reprisal: The German Army and the Execution of Hostages during the Second World War" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, San Diego, 1980);
37. Geoffrey Best, Humanity in Warfare (New York, 1980);
38. Peter Schöller, Der Fall Löwen und das Weißbuch (Cologne, 1958);
39. Heinrich Schütze, Die Repressalie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kriegsverbrechenprozesse (Bonn, 1950);
40. John Home and Alan Kramer, "German 'Atrocities' and Franco-German Opinion, 1914:The Evidence of German Soldiers' Diaries," Journal of Modern History 66 (1994): 1-33.
41. For an excellent example of recent research, see Kenneth Slepyan, "The People's Avengers: Soviet Partisans, Stalinist Society and the Politics of Resistance, 1941-1944" (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1994). This very interesting dissertation deals with the partisan movement within the context of Soviet political culture and is a very helpful guide to the most recent research.
42. See also Leonid Grenkevich, The Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941-1944 (London, 1999); Armstrong, ed.;
43. Edgar Howell, The Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941-1944 (Washington, D.C., 1956);
44. Sovetskie partizany: Iz istorii partizanskogo dvizheniia v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (Moscow, 1963);
45. Partiinoe podpol'e: Deiatel'nost podpol'nykh partiinykh organov i organizatsii na okkupirovannoi sovetskoi territorii v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (Moscow, 1983);
46. Voina v tylu vraga: O nekotorykh problemakh istorii sovetskogo dvizheniia v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (Moscow, 1974);
47. P. K. Ponomarenko, Vsenarodnaia bor'ba v tylu nemetsko-fashistskikh zakhvatchikov (Moscow, 1986);
48. A. Fedorov, Podpol'nyi obkom deistvuet (Moscow, 1949);
49. Istoriia Velikoi Otechestennoi voiny Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1941-1945 (Moscow, 1965);
50. A. S. Zalesskii, V partizanskikh kraiakh i zonakh: Patrioticheskii podvig sovetskogo krestianstva v tylu vraga, 1941-1944 (Moscow, 1962).
51. For a particularly useful overview of Soviet historiography on the Ukrainian partisan movement, see V. I. Klokov, Vsenarodnaia bor'ba v tylu nemetskofashistskikh okkupantov na Ukraine, 1941-1944 (Kiev, 1978).
52. Streit.
53. Jürgen Förster, "Das Unternehmen 'Barbarossa' als Eroberungs- und Vernichtungskrieg," in DRZW (n. 4 above), 4:413-50.
54. For the original orders and amendments by OKW and OKH, see the appendix to Gerd Ueberschär and Wolfram Wette, eds., "Unternehmen Barbarossa ": Der deutsche Überfall auf die Sowjetunion 1941 (Paderborn, 1984).
55. For amplification from field commanders issued during the early stages of Barbarossa, see, e.g., the orders given by Reichenau, Manstein, and Hoth cited in Krausnick and Wilhelm (n. 4 above), pp. 258-61, and the numerous orders from the army, corps, and division level cited in Jürgen Förster, "Das Unternehmen Barbarossa," in DRZW (n. 4 above), 4:525-40.
56. For commentary on the entire complex of orders, see Jürgen Förster, "Das Unternehmen Barbarossa," in DRZW 4:421-39; Streit (n. 4 above), pp. 40-68.
57. The restrictions that the Hague Rules imposed on irregulars are found in Articles I and II of Part IV. See Leon Friedman, ed., The Law of War: A Documentary History (New York, 1972), 1:308-23.
58. British Manual of Military Law, 1929, Amendments (no. 12), chap. 14, "The Laws and Usages of War";
59. U.S. Basic Field Manual FM27-10, Rules of Land Warfare (Washington, D.C., 1940);
60. Zentrale Stelle für Landesjustizverwaltungen in Ludwigsburg, Geisel und Partisanentötungen im Zweiten Weltkrieg: Hinweise zur rechtlichen Beurteilung (Ludwigsburg, 1968), p. 17.
61. Slepyan, pp.28-36.
62. For general information on German organization of occupied territory, see Rolf-Dieter Müller, "Von der Wirtschaftsallianz zum kolonialen Ausbeutungskrieg," in DRZW 4:98-190;
63. Jürgen Förster, "Das Unternehmen 'Barbarossa' als Eroberungs- und Vernichtungskrieg," and "Die Sicherung des 'Lebensraumes,' " also in DRZW 4:413-50. Also see Schulte (n. 18 above), chaps. 3 and 4.
64. Sicherungs-Division 454 Kriegstagebuch (hereafter abbr. KTB) 1a, entry of 31.8.41, BA-MA RH26-454/2.
65. Unless otherwise noted, basic chronological details of German operations have been established on the basis of the KTB of the Heeresgebiet operations staff (section 1a). See USNAT501/4.
66. 62. Inf. Div. KTB (1a) 24.10.41 entry, BA-MA RH26-62/39.
67. Ortskommandantur II/933 Mirgorod 7.10.41 (date thus given on original) Br.B.Nr. 843/41 Betr. Erfahrungsbericht an Sich. Div. 213 Abt. 1a, BA-MA RH26-62/56.
68. The Central Staff of the partisan movement eventually compiled detailed records of the composition and activities of the many detachments, large and small, that were active in 1942 and 1943. Unfortunately, there is little archival material of this kind for the detachments that did not survive the first winter of the war. There are a few sources available that retrospectively describe the origins of the Myrhorod district partisan movement. See Prilozhenie k protokolu n37 Otchet ob antifashistskom podpol'e i partizanskom dvizhenii na territorii Poltavskoi oblasti v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny 1941-1943 g., DAPO 15/1/2016; Sekretar' Poltavskogo obkomu KP/b/U po propagande i agitatsii, Mirgorodskii RKKP/b/U vysylaem listovki vypushchennye partizanami v period nemetskoi okkupatsii Mirgorodskogo raiona, 24.7.46, DAPO 105/1/265. This lengthy report contains several sections of interest, including one entitled, "Rasskaz zheny partizana OTRISHKO Al-ry Savovny," and an untitled narrative of the history of the Ivashchenko group written by an official named Z. I. Kazrasik and dated November 13, 1944; Poltavskii oblastnoi sovet deputatov trudiashchikhsia g. Poltava, otchet o deiatel'nosti podpol'nykh organizatsii KP(b)U i iopartizanskoi oblasti v period vremennoi nemetskofashistkoi okkupatsii, sent. 1941-sent. 1943 gg., DAPO 4085/4/5. For a published account apparently based on these sources, see Iemets' and Samoilenko (n. 4 above), pp. 28-35.
69. Despite the fact that Kopenkin became a Hero of the Soviet Union, information about the origins of his detachment is scant. The most authoritative documents point to NKVD sponsorship of the group, while others indicate party affiliation. See Dokladnaia zapiska Narkomata Vnutrennikh Del Ukr. SSR Tsentral'nomu Komitetu KP(b)U o boevoi deiatel'nosti ob" edinennogo partizanskogo otriada pod komandovaniem I.I. Kopenkina v sentiabre 1941-ianvare 1942 gg., published as document no. 308 in Sovetskaia Ukraina (n. 4 above); Iz otcheta Poltavskogo obkoma Kompartii Ukrainy o boevoi deiatel'nosti podpol'nogo obkoma i partizanskikh formirovanii v sentiabre 1941-aprele 1942 gg., document no. 368 in Sovetskaia Ukraina; Prilozhenie k protokolu n37 Otchet ob antifashistskom podpol'e i partisanskom dvizhenii na territorii Poltavskoi oblasti v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny 1941-1943 g., DAPO 15/1/2016.
70. Kopenkin's short biography in Geroi Sovetskogo Soiuza (Moscow, 1987-88) offers little information.
71. The most useful document on the activities of the Bezpal'ko detachment is a lengthy handwritten account, dated February 26, 1942, written by a soldier who joined Bezpal'ko's group in September 1941 after it rescued his unit from German encirclement. Labeled "top secret," it bears the simple heading "doklad" and a marginal note stating that it should be added to the files of the detachment commanded by Kopenkin: TsDAHO (Tsentral'nyi derzhavnyi arkhiv hromads'kykh ob'iednan') 62/4/34 (hereafter, this document will be referred to as the "Bezpal'ko report"). See also Iemets' and Samoilenko.
72. Georg Tessin, Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939-1945 (Osnabrück, 1977-), 5:246-48;
73. Samuel Mitcham, Hitler's Legions (New York, 1985), pp. 85-86;
74. Berhard Kroener, "Die personellen Ressourcen des Dritten Reiches im Spannungsfeld zwischen Wehrmacht, Bürokratie und Kriegswirtschaft 1939-1942," in B. Kroener et al., Organisation und Mobilizierung des deutschen Machtbereichs: Halbband 1 - Kriegsvenwaltung, Wirtschaft und personelle Ressourcen 1939-1941, by B. Kroener et al., vol. 5 of DRZW (n. 4 above) (Stuttgart, 1988), p. 710.
75. The divisional history produced by the 62d division's veterans group after the war contains much useful information, but the straightforward operational narrative omits any discussion of sensitive or potentially incriminating subjects, including the anti-partisan operations dealt with in this article: see Kameradenhilfswerk der ehemaligen 62. Division, Die 62. Infanterie-Division, 1938-1944. Die 62. Volks-Grenadier-Division, 1944-1945 (Fulda, 1968).
76. 62. Inf. Div. (Verlust-) Meldung vom 5.10.41., Stichtag der Meldung 25.9.41., USNA T-315/1028.
77. Rückw. H.Geb. Süd KTB 1a entry of 3.11.41, USNA T-501/4. The number of Jews killed here does not agree with internal reports of the 62d Infantry Division, which noted 140 "partisans and Jews" shot in one place and simply, "140 partisans shot" in another. See also 62. Infanterie-Division KTB la entry 28.10.41 BA-MA RH26-62/39; Tätigkeitsberichte (Abt. 1a62. Inf. Div.) für die Zeit vom 26.10.41-14.11.41, BA-MARH26-62/41; Tagesmeldung der Abt. Ic (62. ID) 28.10.41 in Tätigkeitsbericht Abt. Ic der 62. ID 22.6.41-31.12.41, BA-MA RH26-62/82. A list of persons shot by the Germans in Myrhorod prepared by a special commission investigating German depredations in the Poltava region shows 126 persons as having been shot on October 28, 1941. Most of those listed have common Jewish surnames, but are otherwise not identifiable as Jews. See Zaiavleniia, spisok i akty na grazhdan, rasstrelennykh nemetsko-fashistskimi okkupantami po g. Mirgorodu, Poltavskoi oblastii DAPO 3388/1/1624.
78. (Abschrift) Rückw. Heeresgebiet Süd Abt. VII Nr. 103/41 16.8.41 Anordnung Abt. VII, Nr. 7, BA-MA Allierte Prozeße Nr. 9, NOKW-1691.
79. 62. Infanterie-Division Abt. Ia/Ic 21.7.41, BA-MA RH26-62/40.
80. 62. Inf. Div. KTB (1a) entries from October29 to November 1, 1941, BA-MA RH26-62/39. According to the Bezpal'ko report, the "partisans" shot at Bakumivka included women, old men, and numerous children. This report also claims that the Germans burned six houses. See Bez'palko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34.
81. Rückw. Heeresgebiet Süd KTB (1a), entry of November 9, 1941, USNA T-501/4.
82. (Femschreiben) Bfh. rückw. H. Geb. Süd an Heeresgruppe Süd 411109 22:40, USNAT-501/6. (Fernschreiben) Bfh. rückw. H.Geb. Süd 1a an Sich. Div. 213, Sich. Div. 444, Ers. Brig. 202, Rum. VI A.K. 411109 23:00, USNA T501/6.
83. This was, according to Soviet histories of the partisan movement, a common problem for the insurgency at this stage of the war. See for example Fedorov (n. 11 above). Fedorov also drew attention to this problem in the early history of the partisan movement in a very candid report he submitted to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (TsKKP/b/U) on March 12, 1943. See Dokladnaia zapiska o partizanskom dvizhenii . . . TsDAHO, 1/22/7. For the reference to the betrayal by Sakalo, see Prilozhenie k protokolu n37 otchet ob antifashistskom podpol'e i partizanskom dvizhenii na territorii Poltavskoi oblasti v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny 1941-1943 g., DAPO 15/1/2016.
84. (Abschrift) Ortskommandantur I(V) 268 Feldgendarmeriegruppe Feldpostnummer 46852 Tgb. Nr. 2, 8.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/41.
85. (Abschrift) Ortskommandantur I(V) 268 Feldgendarmeriegruppe Feldpostnummer 46852 Tgb. Nr. 3, 9.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/41. Soviet records provide no confirmation of the killing of paroled POWs by partisans in Sakalivka. However, in an interview with the author in 1997, Vasyl' Tkachenko, a wartime resident of Velyka Obukhivka, claimed that the Kopenkin partisan group shot straggling Red Army soldiers in Velyka Obukhivka who would not join the partisans. Interview with Vasyl' Danylovych Tkachenko, April 18, 1997.
86. (Abschrift) Ortskommandantur I(V) 268 Feldgendarmeriegruppe Feldpostnummer 46852 Tgb. Nr. 3, 9.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/41.
87. Vinok bezsmertia (n. 2 above), pp. 337-38.
88. The existing literature on Ukrainian collaboration with German authorities deals mainly with the cooperation between nationalist groups like the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Orhanizatsiia ukrains'kykh natsionalistiv; OUN) and the German military or with indigenous military formations in German service, such as the Ukrainian formations of the Waffen-SS. See, e.g., John Armstrong, Ukrainian Nationalism, 1939-1945 (New York, 1945);
89. Peter J. Potichnyj, "Ukrainians in World War II Military Formations: An Overview," in Boshyk, ed. (n. 4 above), pp. 61-66.
90. The behavior of small communities remains largely unexplored. For an overview of the literature on Ukrainian collaboration, see Ryszard Torzecki; "Die Rolle der Zusammenarbeit mit der deutschen Besatzungsmacht in der Ukraine für deren Okkupationspolitik, 1941 bis 1944," in Deutsches Bundesarchiv, Europa unterm Hakenkreuz: Okkupation und Kollaboration, 1938-1945 (Berlin, 1994).)
91. Koch temporarily joined the Heeresgebiet staff after the Bandera faction of the OUN's ill-fated proclamation of an independent Ukraine in L'viv on June 30. See Heeresgebiet Süd KTB (1a), USNA T-501/4; Kommandeur-Besprechung vom 20.6.41, BA-MA RH26-454/6a-b; Bfn. rückw. H.Geb. 103 Abt. Ic 968/41 geh., 11.7.41, Besondere Anordnungen für die Behandlung der ukrainischen Frage, USNAT-501/5; (Abschrift) Rückw. Heeresgebiet Süd Abt. VII, Nr. 103/41, 16.8.41 Anordnung Abt. VII Nr. 7, BA-MA Allierte Prozeße Nr. 9, NOKW-1691; Sich. Div. 454 Abt. Ia/Ic Nr. - 2.8.41 Anlage 2, "Russische Kriegsgefangene," BA-MA RH26-62-454/6a-b; A.O.K. 6 O Qu./Qu.2, 12.8.41 betr. Entlassung von Kriegsgefangenen, BA-MA RH26-62 454/6a-b.
92. Sich. Div. 454 Abt. 1a, Anlage zum Divisionsbefehl Nr. 59 8.9.41, Merkblatt über Sofortaufgaben der Ortskommandanturen, BA-MA RH26-62-454/6a-b.
93. Dienstreise zu OKH 25.11.41, USNA T-501/6. Von Krosigk's notes read as follows in the original German: "Nicht Negerstandpunkt, sondern vernünftige Behandlung nach Richtlinien Reichsminister Rosenberg."
94. The 62d division KTB (1a) mentions that the division shot eight persons as partisans (usually described as Freischärler) between June 22 and October 27. It also states that elements of the division were attacked by partisans on at least two occasions. Interestingly, despite the fact that the responsible persons were not apprehended in these cases, no reprisals followed. See KTB entries for 14.8.41 and 18.8.41, BA-MA RH26-62/40.
95. Shishatskii Raikom Kompartii Ukrainy, Pokazanie ob''iasnitel'nye zapiski i drugie dokumenty . . . DAPO 105/1/357.
96. (Abschrift) Fernspruch von I.R. 190 an 62. I.D., Meldung betr. Baranowka 12.11.41, 20,20 Uhr, BA-MA RH26-62/41; Fernspruch von Lt. Schönfeld / Gefr. Pressler betr. Strafaktion Oberst Sins [sic], 13.11.41 20,00, BA-MA RH26-62/56.
97. Two archival sources mention the killings briefly: Shishatskii Raikom Kompartii Ukrainy, Pokazanie ob''iasnitel'nyê zapiski i drugie dokumenty . . . DAPO 105/1/357; Kharakteristika Baranovskogos . soveta g. 1941 po 1944g. DAPO 1876/8/108. The most detailed descriptions can be found in Vinok bezsmertia, pp. 329 ff. This source is somewhat unsatisfactory, in that few of the sources used by the authors are given in footnotes. It is impossible to determine, for example, when the many interviews with surviving witnesses featured in the book were conducted. Nevertheless, much of the information presented in this book is consistent with the German record, and with the information provided by witnesses interviewed by the author in Baranivka in 1997. Much the same can be said of Dzvony pam 'yati (n. 2 above), which also discusses Baranivka, pp. 28-33, and refers to some of the same witnesses mentioned in Vinok bezsmertia. Also relevant are the interview with Mariia Ivanovna Malosh, April 18, 1997; and the interview with Hanna Fedorivna Kryvoshyi, April 18, 1997.
98. Vinok bezsmertia, pp. 329 ff. The presence of this German named "Hoffmann" or "Hochmann" cannot be explained from 62d division records. This book suggests that he was an official of the German administration who remained in the area throughout the occupation. It is possible that he was an officer of the Myrhorod or Shyshaky Ortskommandanturen, for these garrisons were usually left in place when the Reichskommissariat Ukraine assumed control of a given area from the Heeresgebiet. Gebietskommissar was a title used exclusively by German civil administration in occupied areas. Many Sovietsources, archival and published, popular and scholarly, display a very poor understanding of the structure of German military government and are apt to use terms like Gestapo very loosely to describe any unit of military police.
99. Vinok bezsmertia, Ibid., p. 335.
100. Interview with Mariia Ivanovna Malosh, April 18, 1997; interview with Hanna Fedorivna Kryvoshyi, April 18, 1997.
101. Extrapolating from the general principles of the law of war and the norms that they discerned in various national military regulations, the members of the "Hostage Case" tribunal established a series of criteria for the legality of hostage taking and reprisals that did little to restrict the occupying army's freedom of action. Reprisals against civilians were not formally prohibited under international law until the Geneva Convention of 1949. See Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (Washington, D.C., 1950), 11:1230-1317.
102. Von Reichenau demanded the public hanging of all captured partisans of either sex and ordered that suspect "partisan" villages would only be exempted from reprisal when there was concrete evidence that the inhabitants had offered resistance to the insurgents. See Der Oberbefehlshaber der 6. Armee, Armeebefehl 9. November 1941, BA-MA RH26-299/124; Generalkommando LI A.K. Abt. Ic Nr. 2677/41 geh., Anlage Nr. 464 zum KTB der Abt. Ic, 12.11.1941, BA-MA RH24-51/57.
103. 62. Infanterie-Division Abt. Ia/Ic Nr. 1784/41 geh. betr. Befriedung, Sühnemaßnahmen, 11.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/41.
104. There are numerous references to this meeting in the archival sources. See Rasskaz zheny partizana OTRISHKO Al-ry Savovny in Sekretar' Poltavskogo obkomu KP/b/U po propagande i agitatsii, Mirgorodskii RKKP/b/U vysylaem listovki vypushchennye partizanami v period nemetskoi okkupatsii Mirgorodskogo raiona, 24.7.46, DAPO 105/1/ 265; Poltavskii oblastnoi sovet deputatov trudiashchikhsia g. Poltava, otchet o deiatel'nosti podpol'nykh organizatsii KP(b)U i o partizanskoi oblasti v period vremennoi nemetsko-fashistkoi okkupatsii, sent. 1941-sent. 1943 gg., DAPO 4085/4/5; Prilozhenie k protokolu n37 Otchet ob antifashistskom podpol'e i partizanskom dvizhenii na territorii Poltavskoi oblasti v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny 1941-1943 g., DAPO 15/1/ 2016. There is an odd reference to this meeting among the early records of the Poltava oblast underground in the TsDAHO - a one-page document, undated, that states that the rally took place, that two hundred people attended, and that a farm worker by the name of Korniienko displayed portraits of Lenin and Stalin, while another named Honcharenko brought out a Soviet flag: TsDAHO 1/22/19 (document headed "Poltavskaia oblast'"). See also document no. 87, "Z postanovi Biuro Poltavs'kogo obkomu . . ." in Poltavshchina v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi Voiny (Kharki v, 1965), p. 101; interview with Vasyl' DanylovychTkachenko, April 18, 1997.
105. Fernspruch von Lt. Schönfeld/Gefr. Presser 13.11.4120:00 Betr. Strafaktion Oberst Sins [sic], BA-MA RH26-62/56.
106. Compare, e.g., an NKVD account, obviously written to play up the role of Kopenkin, with the Bez'palko report: Dokladnaia zapiska Narkomata Vnutrennikh Del Ukr. SSR Tsentral'nomu Komitetu KP(b)U o boevoi deiatel'nosti ob'' edinennogo partizanskogo otriada pod komandovaniem I.I. Kopenkiria v sentiabre 1941-ianvare 1942 gg., published as document no. 308 in Sovetskaia Ukraina (n. 4 above); Bez'palko report, TsDAHO 62/ 4/34.
107. Otryshko, too, gives the date incorrectly as December 12, 1941. Otherwise, hers is a very sober description of events. Rasskaz zheny partizana OTRISHKO Al-ry Savovny [included in] Sekretar' Poltavskogo obkomu KP/b/U po propagande i agitatsii, Mirgorodskii RKKP/b/U vysylaem listovki vypushchennye partizanami v period nemetskoi okkupatsii Mirgorodskogo raiona, 24.7.46, DAPO 105/1/265.
108. There are several other accounts of the Velyka Obukhivka killings. A report written by the village council in May 1944 says that three Germans and twenty-seven horses were killed. See Akt No. 1, 25 Maia 1944 goda DAPO 3388/1/1627. T. Strokach, head of the staff of the Ukrainian partisan movement, described the initial firefight in similar terms in a book published after the war: T. A. Strokach, Nash pozyvnyi - svoboda (Kiev, 1979), p. 71. A postwar account of the activities of the Myrhorod district partisan detachments (cited above) notes "several" German dead and "up to twenty" horses killed. See Poltavskii oblastnoi sovet deputatov trudiashchikhsia g. Poltava, otchet o deiatel'nosti podpol'nykh organizatsii KP(b)U i o partizanskoi oblasti period vremennoi nemetskofashistkoi okkupatsii, sent. 1941-sent. 1943 gg., DAPO 4085/4/5.
109. Interview with Vasyl'Danylovych Tkachenko, April 18, 1997.
110. Dzvony pam'yati (n. 2 above), pp. 48. DAPO 3388/1/1627 contains dozens of short statements made by Velyka Obukhivka residents recounting the deaths of their family members during the German reprisal. Many are worded in roughly the same way, indicating that they were probably dictated by a local official or written in accordance with some sort of an example provided to the villagers. There is some variation, however, in the descriptions of the manner of death, etc. It seems probable that these statements were submitted in order to secure some kind of compensation.
111. Bezpal'ko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34.
112. There are numerous estimates of the Velyka Obukhivka death toll in Soviet records. One of several available overviews of the activities of the Myrhorod and Shyshaky district partisan detachments states that 312 persons were shot, and a further 10 burned alive: Poltavskii oblastnoi sovet deputatov trudiashchikhsia g. Poltava, otchet o deiatel'nosti podpol'nykh organizatsii KP(b)U i o partizanskoi oblasti o period vremennoi nemetskofashistkoi okkupatsii, sent. 1941-sent. 1943 gg., DAPO 4085/4/5. The Bezpal'ko report estimates that 500 persons were shot: Bezpal'ko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34. Iemets' and Samoilenko claim that "more than 160" persons were killed (p. 37). A short report on the cumulative loss of lives and property in Velyka Obukhivka for the duration of the occupation, prepared by the Velyka Obukhivka village council and dated October 14, 1944, states that 315 persons were shot by the Germans; Khronologicheskaia [next word illegible] V.-Obukhovenogo S. Sovet. . .DAPO 1876/8/91. Oleksandra Otryshko gave a figure of 270: Rasskaz zheny partizana OTRISHKO Al-ry Savovny in Sekretar' Poltavskogo obkomu KP/b/U po propagande i agitatsii, Mirgorodskii RKKP/b/U vysylaem listovki vypushchennye partizanami v period nemetskoi okkupatsii Mirgorodskogo raiona, 24.7.46, DAPO 105/1/265. Vinok bezsmertia (n. 2 above) puts the figure at 200 (p. 340). Vasyl' Tkachenko stated that 273 persons were killed: interview with Vasyl' Danylovych Tkachenko, April 18, 1997.
113. This narrative of II/164's operations in the area is taken from Faasch's detailed afteraction report to Inf. Rgt. 164. (Abschrift) II. Infanterie-Regiment 164 Abt. 1a, 12.11.41 Betr. Säuberungsaktion, BA-MA RH22/179.
114. Bfh.rückw.H.Geb.Süd Abt VII/503/41., 18.11.41 Anordnung Nr. 28, USNA T-501/ 6. Von Roques was sent home on medical leave on October 27. Rückw. H. Geb. Süd KTB (1a) entry of 411027, USNAT-501/4.
115. Strangely, one of the most impressive direct successes against partisans by elements of the 62d division took place on November 11, when the engineer battalion (Pionier Abt. 162) carried out a patrol of an area including the villages of Lushnyky, Khaleptsi, Biivtsi, and lenkivtsi (all Lubny district). The battalion captured a very large number of weapons: 1 light machine gun, 1 machine pistol, 82 rifles, 3 mines, 40 explosive devices, 4 hand grenades, 150 molotov cocktails, and 18,850 rounds of small arms ammunition. Surprisingly, 28 "bandits" were reported "brought in" and, rather than being executed, were delivered to the POW camp at Khorol. There are two possible explanations for this variation in division practice. These partisans may have surrendered voluntarily (i.e., not as a result of combat) and were thus granted the amnesty commonly extended to partisan deserters. Alternatively, the battalion commander may simply have declined to shoot men he personally considered deserving of lawful combatant status, in violation of standing orders regarding partisans. 62. Inf. Div. Tätigkeitsberichte für die Zeit vom 26.10-14.11.41, BA-MARH26-62/41.
116. Bezpal'ko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34.
117. Ibid.
118. This figure is derived from several daily reports (Tagesmeldungen) from the 164th infantry regiment to the 62d division headquarters. See Tagesmeldung, 10.11.41-24.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/56. See also 62. Inf. Division Abt. Ic 24.11.41 Tagesmeldung, BA-MA RH26-62/82.
119. Interview with Polina Oleksiivna Stepa, August 11, 1997.
120. 62. Inf. Div. Ia/Ic 24.11.41 Tagesmeldung an Bfh. rückw. H. Geb. Süd Ia/Ic, BA-MA RH26-62/60. 62. Inf. Div. KTB 1a 23.11.41 entry, BA-MA RH26-62/39. Inf. Rgt. 164 Tagesmeldung 24.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/56. (Fernschreiben) Bfh. rückw. H. Geb. Süd 1a an Heeresgruppe Süd Ia/Ib 25.11.41, USNA T-501/6.
121. 62. Inf. Div. KTB (1a), 23.11.41 entry, BA-MA RH26-62/39. Inf. Rgt. 164 Tagesmeldung 25.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/56.
122. Nibelungen (IR 164) Nachtrag zur Tagesmeldung 27.11., BA-MA RH26-62/56. Bezpal'ko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34; Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del Ukrainskoi SSR, Narodnyi list na komandira partizanskogo otriada - Bezpal'ko, Dmitria Efimovicha, opisanie sovershennogo podviga, TsDAHO 62/4/34; Dokladnaia zapiska Narkomata Vnutrennikh Del Ukr. SSR Tsentral'nomu Komitetu KP(b)U o boevoi deiatel'nosti obedinennogo partizanskogo otriada pod komandovaniem I.I. Kopenkina v sentiabre 1941-ianvare 1942 gg., published as document no. 308 in Sovetskaia Ukraina (n. 4 above).
123. I.R. 164 Tagesmeldung 28.11.41, BA-MA RH26-62/56.
124. 62. Inf. Div. KTB 1a entry 1.12.41, BA-MA RH26-62/39; Tagesmeldung Abt. Ic. (62. Inf. Div.) 1.12.41, BA-MA RH26-62/82. The Bezpal'ko document mentioned above offers a possible explanation by claiming that the Germans were ambushed with some losses during this operation and that seventy persons were shot in Sakalivka itself as an act of reprisal. Sixty-second division records do not reflect any such losses, but it is also possible that the Germans were simply retaliating for the failure of the inhabitants to betray the location of this camp during their earlier patrols in the vicinity.
125. For information on the collapse of the Myrhorod and Shyshaky district partisans, see Poltavskii oblastnoi sovet deputatov trudiashchikhsia g. Poltava, otchet o deiatel'nosti podpol'nykh organizatsii KP(b)U i o partizanskoi oblasti v period vremennoi nemetskofashistkoi okkupatsii, sent. 1941-sent. 1943 gg., DAPO 4085/4/5; Prilozhenie k protokolu n37 Otchet ob antifashistskom podpol'e i partisanskom dvizhenii na territorii Poltavskoi oblasti v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny 1941-1943 g., DAPO 15/1/ 2016; Bezpal'ko report, TsDAHO 62/4/34; Iemets' and Samoilenko (n. 4 above), pp. 41-42.
126. Richard Evans, "The Catholic Community and the Prussian State," in his Rereading German History, 1800-1996 (London, 1997), p.91.