Operation Hornung

Part of World War II

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Ordnungspolizei in Minsk, ca 1943.
| Date| February 8–26, 1943

|

Location|

Hancewicze, Morocz, Lenin, Łuniniec, Belarus

Result|  German - RLA Victory
Belligerents

Germany

* Russian Volunteers

|  Belarusian partisans
Commanders and leaders
Oskar Dirlewanger
Franz Magill
Siegfried Binz|  unknown
Strength
Dirlewanger Special Battalion,
Russian company,
Combat Group Binz,
Einsatzgruppe B with the collaborator battalion Rodionov|  unknown
Casualties and losses
29 killed
133 weapons captured|  12,897 civilians/partisans killed

Operation Hornung was an anti-partisan operation during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany, carried out in February 1943.[1] It was directed against the area Hancewicze-Morocz-Lenin-Łuniniec, a thinly populated area of about 4,000 square kilometers southwest of Słuck on the southern border of the Regional Commissariat White Ruthenia. It came in the sequence of three actions (including Erntefest I and Erntefest II) that had taken place in January further to the northeast, in the area of Słuck-Osipowicze; it claimed over 12,000 victims.

## Background[edit]

The aim of this operation, carried out by Curt von Gottberg, was to prevent any further advance of partisans from the northern Polesie region who had entered the Regional Commissariat White Ruthenia and the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, from the east and to prevent damage to the Brześć-Homel railway along the Prypeć River; domination of this area was of key importance. According to the reconnaissance reports of the commander of Sicherheitspolizei and SD Minsk, a careful estimate suggested a population of 10,000 people and a number of 'bandits', a total in the order of 34,000 men. Allegedly, there existed a veritable Soviet republic with command offices, centers of recruitment and the military training of young men; also, new sports arenas, churches and schools. The population of the area was from the start saddled with collective liability and its extermination was planned. 'Given the current weather it must be expected that in all villages of the mentioned area the bandits have found shelter', was the feeble justification of the Dirlewanger Special Battalion. Two members of a propaganda company sent as observers, put it rather more clearly: In order to keep the bands from once more gaining a foothold in this area, the order had been issued to turn this area into a no mans land.

Oskar Dirlewanger in 1944.

## The operation[edit]

The preamble of Operation Hornung was the destruction of the Słuck ghetto on February 8, 1943 by the almost completely employed unit of the commander of security police and SD Minsk with the help of several other police units.[2] They murdered more than 3,000 people there.[3] Within the following week, the area of the operation was concentrically crossed by 13 battalions and numerous smaller units of the participating forces in five combat groups. The population, which was to be murdered at the end of the operation, was pacified with the assurance that only actual partisans were being targeted. But there was hardly any fighting. On February 14/15, the tactic was changed, as had been established already before the operation, and the last and in this case longest phase began. The wounded Oskar Dirlewanger was replaced by Franz Magill, the deputy commander of Special Battalion Dirlewanger, who issued the following order:

> The battalion is to again comb through the combat zone of February 15 to February 17 up to the line Starobin-Powarczycze. Everything that may give shelter or protection is to be destroyed. The area is to become no mans land. All inhabitants are to be shot. Cattle, grain and other products are to be taken and delivered to Starobin. The Russian company is to go back into the combat zone and destroy everything and lead the cattle out in a northerly direction. The sled column is to be kept so far from the location to be destroyed that the civilian drivers are not present at the executions.

Combat Group Binz of Police Regiment 23 (SS-Polizei Regiment 23)[4] issued the following radio message:

> The radical destruction of all buildings, even the smallest and most remote and the destruction of all persons not required to drive cattle or collect agricultural products where possible (flachs); the area is to become no mans land. The commander of combat group north takes complete responsibility for this.

The order had not been issued by a major of the Schutzpolizei, (gendarmerie), Siegfried Binz, however, but at a higher level. At first there had been a total collection of agricultural products for the final phase of the operation, which boded no good for the population. All participating combat groups in the operation area adopted this procedure, not only Combat Group Binz. Last but not least, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, according to his own statements, arrived at the (Headquarters of?) Combat Group Staff von Gottberg on February 15 probably a day earlier, and thus in time to give the order himself or at least be present when it was issued. Until then, apart from the Jews of Słuck, 2,483 people had been killed. This was also one of the first operations in which the SS-Special Battalion Dirlewanger took part since Bach-Zelewski had put it at von Gottberg's disposal. Its deputy commander, Magill, was head of SS for special tasks at Bach-Zelewski's staff and had been specifically detached to von Gottberg. Magill thus had the chance to continue in this region what he had already begun with the SS Cavalry Regiment 2 in 1941. Other units taking part in Operation Hornung included a detachment of Einsatzgruppe B with the collaboration of the Rodionov battalion, which in turn came from the rear area of Army Group Centre and was noted for its brutality. The contemporary Wehrmacht commander in White Ruthenia, Bronislaw Pawel, stated that the immediate direction of the operation had been carried out by von Gottberg but that the overall direction had resided with Bach-Zelewski.

## Extermination[edit]

There are several sources and accounts for the ensuing extermination campaign. Two Wehrmacht propagandists reported the attempt to turn this area into no mans land: This was carried out by slaughtering the population of the villages and farms located in this area down to the last infant. All houses were burned down. Cattle and food stocks were collected and taken out of the area. They also mentioned the panic that had spread, even among the hardened Belarusian auxiliary policemen, who still spoke about it months thereafter:

> A particularly strong impression was left by accounts from members of the former Drushina I Battalion, who in February were witnesses to extermination actions against the Russian civilian population south of Słuck.

Descriptions of German cruelty, for instance cramming women and children into burning houses, spread rapidly among the civilian population.

Survivors from this region have movingly described how they felt when placed inside a dead zone. Gana Michalowna Grincewicz remembered: In my fear it seemed to me that no one was left in the world, that all had been killed.

This action stands out for the extermination of many large villages by the Germans. 1,046 people died in Lenin, 780 in Pusiczi, 787 in Adamowo [5] and 426 in Kopacewiczi. A final total of 12,718 dead, among them 3,300 Jews, (from Słuck), were recorded. Only 65 prisoners were mentioned. Indeed, the SS and police deported only 72 people as a labor force in the course of fighting in the Regional Commissariat White Ruthenia in February 1943. Between November 1942 and March 1943, no more than 3,589 persons had been made available to the so-called Sauckel Commission in the course of eleven major operations, during which at least 33,378 people were murdered.[6][7]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Bernd Wegner; Germany. Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (January 1997). From Peace to War: Germany, Soviet Russia, and the World, 1939-1941. Berghahn Books. pp. 289–. ISBN 978-1-57181-882-9.
2. ^ Memorial Unveiled in Slutsk Brings in Somber New Year
3. ^ "Holocaust". Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
4. ^ details on Police Regiment 23
5. ^ There are several places called Адамова (Adamova) in Belarus, but apparently none called Адамово (Adamovo). The location may have been one of those. Adamova, Slutsk Raion [be] is in the relevant area. It is also possible that the village was destroyed and never rebuilt. It seems likely that the location will remain uncertain.
6. ^ Christian Gerlach, Kalkulierte Morde. Die deutsche Wirtschafts- und Vernichtungspolitik in Weißrußland 1941 bis 1944. Studienausgabe, pages 943 and following
7. ^ Heinrich (30 December 2011). "Sluzk (Slutsk) massacres". Retrieved 18 September 2017.

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Military engagements
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
* Home front
* Australian
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Lend-Lease
* Manhattan Project
* British contribution
* Military awards
* Military equipment
* Military production
* Naval history
* Nazi plunder
* Opposition
* Technology
* Allied cooperation
* Mulberry harbour
* Total war
* Strategic bombing
* Puppet states
* Women
* Art and World War II
* Music in World War II

|

Theaters|

* Asia and Pacific
* China
* South-East Asia
* Pacific
* North and Central Pacific
* South-West Pacific
* Indian Ocean
* Europe
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* North Africa
* East Africa
* Italy
* West Africa
* Atlantic
* timeline
* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
* Italian war crimes
* Japanese war crimes
* Nanjing Massacre
* Unit 731
* Prosecution
* Croatian war crimes
* Genocide of Serbs
* Persecution of Jews
* Romanian war crimes
* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland
* Rape during the liberation of France / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* Wang Jingwei regime
* Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* Germany
* Hungary
* Free India
* French Indochina
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Japan
* Manchukuo
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovakia
* Thailand
* Vichy France

Neutral|

* Ireland
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Vatican City

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Asia
* Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Operation Himmler

|

1939|

* Poland
* Phoney War
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* Atlantic
* First Battle of Changsha
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* German invasion of Denmark (1940)
* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Belgium
* France
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* Battle of Britain
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Indochina
* Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of South Shanxi
* East Africa
* Yugoslavia
* Shanggao
* Greece
* Crete
* Iraq
* Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Syria and Lebanon
* Kiev
* Iran
* Leningrad
* Gorky
* Moscow
* Sevastopol
* Pearl Harbor
* Hong Kong
* Philippines
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Malaya
* Borneo (1941–1942)
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Java Sea
* Coral Sea
* Gazala
* Dutch Harbor
* Attu (occupation)
* Kiska
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi
* Midway
* Rzhev
* Blue
* Stalingrad
* Singapore
* St Nazaire
* Dieppe
* El Alamein
* Guadalcanal
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Tunisia
* Battle of West Hubei
* Kursk
* Smolensk
* Gorky
* Solomon Islands
* Attu
* Sicily
* Cottage
* Lower Dnieper
* Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Narva
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Tempest
* Ichi-Go
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw
* Eastern Romania
* Belgrade
* Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Lapland
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Manila
* Iwo Jima
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Okinawa
* Guangxi
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Berlin
* Czechoslovakia
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Vietnamese famine of 1945
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template