BELARUSIAN WOMEN'S COLLABORATIONISM AS A TOOL OF GERMAN PROPAGANDA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of Belarusian women's collaboration in the context of the problem of German propaganda in the occupied Soviet territory during the Great Patriotic War. The study was conducted on the materials of the General District of Belarus, chronological framework – 1941-1944. The paper analyzes the materials of propaganda for women and the activities of Belarusian women's collaborationist organizations in the territory of the General District of Belarus. The district occupied about a quarter of the pre-war territory of the BSSR and included mainly western and part of the central districts. The object of the study was German propaganda for women and the occupation policy towards women in the territory of the General District of Belarus. Research methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison. The purpose of the work is to analyze the content of German propaganda for women and the activities of Belarusian women's pro-German associations, to determine their goals and effectiveness. The author comes to the conclusion that the long period of German occupation of a number of Soviet territories, in this case the BSSR, caused the appearance of some specific features of the occupation policy. The head of the German civil administration of the district, Wilhelm Kube, made the main bet on propaganda and encouragement of various kinds of nationalist collaborationist organizations that were supposed to carry out systematic ideological influence on the population of the district. In addition, W. Kube initiated the creation of special "women's" organizations in the district. A special place among them was occupied by the Association of Belarusian Women and the All-Belarusian Women's Committee. In general, the phenomenon of Belarusian women's collaboration had two components – political and cultural education. The first of them was mainly related to the activities of the "Union of Belarusian Youth" (SBM), built on the principle of the German "Hitler Youth". The second component of the Belarusian women's collaboration was cultural and educational, which took place in the context of the policy of "Belarusization". Art exhibitions, contests, concerts were organized under the sign of the national Belarusian symbols. Well-known Belarusian cultural activists, poetesses Natalia Arsenyeva and Larisa Geniyush, have shown themselves in this area. However, the actualization of the "women's issue" in German propaganda, as well as the participation in propaganda actions and campaigns of well-known representatives of Belarusian culture, did not bring the expected results to the occupation authorities. Propaganda contrasted sharply with the realities of the occupation regime. Punitive expeditions against civilians, methods of fighting partisans, the actual genocide of the peoples of Belarus, the looting and destruction of its cultural and historical heritage – all this together devalued the content of German propaganda, made obvious the false imitation nature of the policy of "Belarusization" and the activities of the collaborators themselves.