Pyotr Mironovich Masherov was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia from 1965 until his death in 1980. Under Masherov's rule, Belarus was transformed from an agrarian, undeveloped nation which had not yet recovered from the Second World War into an industrial powerhouse; Minsk, the capital and largest city of Belarus, became one of the fastest-growing cities on the planet. Masherov ruled until his sudden death in 1980, after his vehicle was hit by a potato truck.
Masherov as shown on a 1996 stamp of Belarus
Masherov (on left) with his brother Pavel, 1930s.
Masherov's personnel sheet, circa 1946, on display at the National Archives of Belarus.
Masherov in his military uniform in 1944.
Belarusian resistance during World War II
The Belarusian resistance during World War II opposed Nazi Germany from 1941 until 1944. Belarus was one of the Soviet republics occupied during Operation Barbarossa. The term Belarusian partisans may refer to Soviet-formed irregular military groups fighting Germany, but has also been used to refer to the disparate independent groups who also fought as guerrillas at the time, including Jewish groups, Polish groups, and nationalist Belarusian forces opposed to Germany.
Soviet partisans in Belarus, 1943
Masha Bruskina with fellow resistance members before hanging, Minsk, October 26, 1941.
Oskar Dirlewanger as an SS-Oberführer, 1944. In Belarus, the SS-Sonderbataillon "Dirlewanger" came under the command of Central Russia's Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer, Erich von dem Bach Zelewski. The "Dirlewanger" resumed anti-partisan duties in this area, working in cooperation with the Kaminski Brigade for the first time. Its conduct in the Soviet Union, rather than improving, worsened and atrocities were a daily occurrence. It is estimated that 200 villages were burned and 120,000 civilians were killed during the actions involving the
A Belarusian Jewish partisan squad: the Chkalov Brigade, Belarus, 1943.