The cultural policy of "Belarusization" as a propaganda tool of the German authorities in the occupied Soviet territory (based on the materials of the General District of Belarus)
Authors:   Russian Customs Academy, Pushkarenko Elena A. 
Published: December 2024

The article examines the phenomenon of the cultural policy of the German authorities in the occupied Soviet territory. The study was conducted on the materials of the General District of Belarus, 1941–1944. The author believes that the cultural policy initiated by the head of the district V. Kube created an external impression of the revival of the national language and culture of Belarus and thus served as an additional means of verifying German propaganda. From his submission, the propaganda media actively exploited the Belarusian national idea as the most trump card of ideological influence on the local population. The Belarusian nationally oriented intelligentsia, as well as local nationalist forces and collaborators became the main support of Cuba in the implementation of cultural policy under the flag of “Belarusization”. With the sanction of Cuba, various public, cultural, religious, and youth organizations are established. One of the first among them was the “Belarusian People's Self-Help” (BNS). The restoration of church life, the holding of divine services in the Belarusian language, as well as the active involvement of the local Belarusian intelligentsia in cooperation became a manifestation of “Belarusianization”. In general, the cultural policy of the German administration included two propaganda lines. The first was connected with the exposure of Soviet power and the possible victory in the Bolshevik war as a potential threat to the entire civilization. Another line was based on the propaganda of the exceptional role of Nazi Germany in the revival of Belarusian culture and national consciousness of Belarusians. However, the cultural policy of the German administration, which was held under the flag of “Belarusization”, completely failed. The bet on propaganda and interaction with the nationalist-oriented intelligentsia has not justified itself. The actions of the German civil administration in the sphere of culture looked cynical and false against the background of the crimes of Nazism that simultaneously took place on the land of Belarus against its peoples. A certain cultural upsurge, which was observed during the German occupation, occurred only within the narrow framework of Belarusian collaboration and did not affect the broad masses of the people. Propaganda and the real policy of the German occupation authorities in the field of culture diverged diametrically. It is known that the Nazis caused enormous damage to the cultural and historical heritage of Belarus: they took to Germany more than one and a half million volumes of valuable and rare publications, including a collection of old printed publications by F. Skarinа, manuscripts of classics of modern Belarusian literature – Yanka Kupala and Maxim Bogdanovich, collections of libraries of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR and the Belarusian State University. But the main loss of the land of Belarus is every third of its inhabitants who died during the years of Nazi rule.