This richly illustrated issue of ARCHE deals with the WWII events and issues constituting an essential part of the Belarusian history and Belarusian identity.

The issue opens with an essay of Ian Kershaw, a prominent scholar of Nazi Germany named "The Führer myth. How Hitler won over the German people". In spite of a huge level of popular support, expressed in a sequence of victorious referenda, as well as a spectacular economic growth and initial diplomatic successes, Hitler ultimately led Germany to a collapse due to the destruction of basic democratic institutions, which resulted in a "dynamic hatred" against minorities, fatal narcissism, and ideological obsessions.

Per Anders Rudling, professor of History and Classics, University of Alberta, analyzes in his "The great patriotic war and national identity in Belarus" how Soviet-style WWII mythology became an effective tool of policies by the Belarusian authorities to strengthen the authoritarian rule within the country. Dr. Rudling also stresses the fact that the Soviet invasion in Eastern Poland in 1939 was accompanied by mass deportations of ethnic Poles, who were depictured by the Soviet propaganda as some kind of public enemy, and whose place in the public space was comparable to the corresponding place of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Professor of History at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz reviews in his "Poles-fascists versus Soviets-occupiers hidden aspects of guerilla warfare in Belarus" the book "Sowjetische Partisanen in Weißrußland. Innenansichten aus dem Gebiet Baranovièi 1941-1944. Eine Dokumentation." (Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Bogdan Musia³. Übersetzung der Dokumente aus dem Russischen von Tatjana Wanjat Schriftenreihe der Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, vol. 88. Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag.) He focuses on hidden aspects of guerilla warfare in present-day Belarus. For instance, only between May 1943 and July 1944, at least 230 battles were fought between the Soviet and Polish partisan detachments.

Andrzej Poczobut, Horadnia based "Gazeta Wyborcza" journalist and member of the Central Board of the Union of Poles in Belarus (unrecognized by the Belarusian authorities) examines in his "The tales for patriots" the monograph of Siarhiej Jor¹ and Siar¾uk Horbik on Belarusian Resistance movement. In his opinion, the book has nothing in common with historical science's methodology, and its authors are completely incompetent tale-tellers.

The text by Uwe Gartenschlaeger, "Minsk City under German occupation (1941-1944)" stems from his Master thesis defended at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Cologne under supervision of Prof. Dr. M.Alexander. It consists of several chapters including "The Einsatzgruppen in Minsk", "German Institutions in the city", "Collaboration and Resistance", etc.

Dr. Leonid Rein from International Institute for Holocaust Research Yad Vashem shows in his "The Orthodox church in Belarus under Nazi occupation (1941-1944)" that although collaboration between German occupiers and Belarusian Orthodox Church was a historical fact, it did have certain limits. Wilhelm Mosel from Deutsch-jüdische Gesellschaft Hamburg depicts in his "Hamburg Deportation Transport to Minsk" episodes of deportation of European Jews to Minsk in 1941-1942 for further extermination. Dr. Leonid Rein considers various forms of participation of Belarusians in the Holocaust as well as the their motives for collaboration in the genocide in his "'Final Solution' in Nazi-occupied Belarus".

Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky from Diaspora Research Center of the Tel Aviv University unveils in his "Antisemitism in the Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941-1944: The case of Belarus" the anti-Semitic attitudes among the guerilla units in Belarus. The official leadership of the guerilla movement did little to prevent or stop this. Afterwards the Soviet authorities kept silent on the subject, and only the recent opening of the archives has permitted historians to learn more about the experiences of Jews who fought in or interacted with the partisan movement.

Lee Baker from University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College, examines in his "Explaining defeat: a reappraisal of 'Operation Bagration'", 1944 the German explanation of how defeat in Belarus occurred and how it could have been avoided during the summer of 1944. In particular, the feasibility of withdrawal to prepared defensive positions and the available tactical doctrine are examined in the context of available German resources. The conclusion is that given the Soviet intentions and overwhelming forces, the German weaknesses were simply too comprehensive for the withdrawal to prevent an ultimate success of Soviet plans.

Dr. Leonid Rein presents in his "Untermenschen in SS uniforms: thirtieth Waffen-Grenadier division of Waffen SS" a less-known chapter in the history of the Belarusian collaboration during World War II, namely thirtieth Waffen-Grenadier SS Division, which was reformed in Waffen-Grenadier SS Brigade (Belarusian No. 1). The provision and equipment of the division shows that even at the point when Third Reich was only one year away of its crumbling, the tenet "maximal collaboration for minimal price" remained unaltered. The members of thirtieth Waffen-Grenadier SS Division similarly to members of other units formed during the closing phase of World War II, were seen by the Germans in the first place as "cannon fodder" that were supposed to patch the crumbling defenses of the Third Reich. Little wonder that such a perception and such treatment led to low morale and constant defections, which in their turn were only further hastened by a suspicious attitude on the part of the German authorities. Generally, the history of thirtieth Waffen-Grenadier SS Division reflects the German perception of local collaboration in occupied countries during World War II. It was essentially as a mixture of racially ideological dogmatism and utilitarianism.

The issue is completed with the reviews by Dr. Peter Klein from Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur of the book by Wolfgang Curilla "Die deutsche Ordnungspolizei und der Holocaust im Baltikum und in Weißrussland 1941-1944" (Paderborn, Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, 2005), by Günter Bischop from the University Of New Orleans of John Lukacs's "June 1941: Hitler and Stalin" (New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 2006) and by Stephen G. Fritz from East Tennessee State University of Evan Mawdsley's "Thunder in the east: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945" (London: Hodder Arnold. 2005).

Published 2008-06-30