Bronislav Kaminski Bronislav Vladislavovich Kaminski ( , June 16 , 1899 , Vitebsk Governorate - August 28 , 1944 , Litzmannstadt ) was the commander of the S . S . Sturmbrigade R . O . N . A . ( also known as Kaminski Brigade and earlier as the Russian National Liberation Army - " Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya " , RONA ) , an anti - partisan formation made up of people from the so - called Lokot Autonomy territory in the Nazi Germany occupied areas of Russia , which was later incorporated into the Waffen - SS as the S . S . Sturmbrigade R . O . N . A . , on the base of which the Germans planned to create the 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA ( 1st Russian ) . However , during the Warsaw Uprising , where one mixed regiment of the brigade was engaged , German commanders decided that the brigade was too undisciplined and unreliable . Kaminski was called to Łódź to attend a leadership conference . He never reached it ; officially , Polish partisans were blamed for an alleged ambush in which Kaminski and a few RONA officials ( including brigade chief - of - staff Waffen - Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin ) were killed . Some sources say he was placed in front of a military tribunal and then executed by firing squad , others that he was shot when the Gestapo captured him . Birth and early life . Bronislav ( also spelled " Bronislaw " ) Kaminski was born in Vitebsk Governorate , Russian Empire , now in Polatsk Raion , Belarus . His father was of Polish descent and his mother was German . Kaminski considered himself a Russian . He studied at the Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University then served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War . After demobilization he returned to the Institute , and after graduation worked at a chemical plant . During the Great Purge , Kaminski was accused of " belonging to a counter - revolution ary group " and arrested and imprisoned in 1937 , serving his sentence at a Sharashka - network - distillery in the Bryansk region of Russia , near Belarus . He was released from prison in 1941 and sent to the Lokot area - specially designated for persons after incarceration with no right to return to their previous places of living in major cities of the Soviet Union . Lokot Autonomy militia and civil administration leader . By October 1941 , the German military advance into the Soviet Union had reached the area of Lokot near the city of Bryansk , which was captured by German forces on October 6 , 1941 . In November 1941 , Bronislav Kaminski , then an engineer at a local alcohol plant , along with a local technical school teacher Konstantin Voskoboinik , approached the German military administration with a proposal to assist the Germans in establishing a civil administration and local police . Voskoboinik was designated by the Germans as the Starosta of the “ Lokot volost ” and the head of the German - controlled local militia . Kaminsky became Voskoboinik ' s assistant . Initially the militia headed by Voskoboinik numbered no more than 200 men and was confined to assisting the Germans in conducting their different activities , including numerous murders of the civil population , loyal or accused of loyalty to the Soviet authorities or to Soviet partisans . The militia grew rapidly and by January 1942 its personnel was increased to 400 - 500 . During a targeted partisan attack headed by Alexander Saburov on January 8 , 1942 , Voskoboinik was mortally wounded . After his death , Kaminski took over command of the expanding militia . In co - operation with German forces , the militia began anti - partisan operations ; by the spring of 1942 it had increased to 1 , 400 armed personnel , and by the summer , to a strength of more than 9 , 000 well armed and disciplined soldiers . The number of Soviet partisans in this area has been estimated as high as twenty thousand , with effective control over almost the entire rear area of Army Group Center ’ s area of operations . In mid March 1942 , Kaminski ’ s representative at the German Second Panzer Army at Orel assured the commanders that Kaminski ’ s unit was “ ready to actively fight the guerillas ” as well as to carry on a propaganda campaign against “ Jewish Bolshevism ” and Soviet partisans . Soon thereafter the commander of the 2nd Army Generaloberst , Rudolf Schmidt , appointed Kaminski mayor of the Army Rear Area 532 , centered on the town of Lokot . On 19 July 1942 , after approval by the Commander of Army Group Centre , Field Marshal Günther von Kluge , Schmidt and the 532 Area commander , Kaminski received a degree of autonomy and nominal self - governing authority , under the supervision of major von Veltheim and colonel Rübsam . Kaminski was appointed the chief major of the Autonomous Administration of Lokot , and brigade commander of the local militia . He administered the local government and established his own courts , jails and newspaper . Private enterprise was encouraged and collective farming abolished . From June 1942 , Kaminski ’ s militia took part in the major action codenamed Operation Vogelsang , as a part of " Generalleutnant " Werner Freiherr von und zu Gilsa ' s Kampfgruppe ( taskforce ) Gilsa II . In autumn 1942 , Kaminski ordered a compulsory draft into the militia of able - bodied men in the area . Units were also reinforced with “ volunteers ” drafted from amongst Soviet POWs at nearby Nazi concentration camps . Kaminski ordered the collection of abandoned ( usually because of minor mechanical failures , or lack of fuel ) Soviet tanks and armored cars . By November 1942 , his unit was in possession at least two BT - 7 tanks and one 76 mm artillery piece . Owing to its lack of military dress and boots , the Germans provided for Kaminski ' s brigade enough used uniforms to outfit four battalions . However , by late 1942 , the militia of the Lokot Autonomy had expanded to the size of a 14 - battalion s brigade , around 8 , 000 men under arms . By January 1943 the brigade had 9 , 828 men , including an armored unit with one heavy KV - II , two medium T - 34 , 3 BT - 7 and 2 BT - 5 light tanks and three armoured cars ( BA - 10 , 2 BA - 20 ) . The brigade ' s structure was reorganized in the spring of 1943 . After the reorganization , the brigade consisted of 5 regiments with 3 battalions each , an anti - aircraft battalion ( 3 AA guns and 4 heavy machine guns ) and an armored unit . A separate “ guard ” battalion was also created , bringing the total brigade strength up to an estimated 12 thousand men . The brigade took part , alongside other German units , in the May – June 1943 Operation Zigeunerbaron ( " Gypsy Baron " ) . Following this operation , the brigade was part of Operation Citadel , the massive offensive to destroy the Kursk salient . These operation were followed by similar operations , Freischütz and Tannhäuser , where the brigade together with other units under German command was involved in action against partisans and also took part in reprisal operations against the civilian population . In the summer of 1943 , the brigade began to suffer major desertions , due in part to the recent Soviet victories , but also due in part to the efforts of the partisans to " turn " as many of Kaminski ' s troops as possible . As a part of these efforts , several attempts on Kaminski ' s life were carried out . Each time , Kaminski narrowly avoided death and punished any captured conspirators with execution . Several German officers passing through Lokot reported seeing bodies hanging from gallows outside Kaminski ' s headquarters . Fearing a breakdown in command , a German liaison staff was attached to Kaminski ' s HQ to restructure the brigade and return stability to the unit . After the failure of the German Operation Citadel , the Soviet counteroffensives forced the brigade , along with the their families , to flee with the retreating Germans . On July 29 , 1943 , Kaminski issued orders for the evacuation of the property and families of the RONA brigade and the Lokot authorities . Up to 30 thousand persons ( 10 - 11 thousand of them were brigade members ) were transferred by the Germans to the Lepel area of Vitebsk in Belarus by the end of August 1943 . According to post - war Soviet estimates , up to 10 , 000 civilians were killed during the existence of the Kaminski formation . In Belarus . The brigade , together with " evacuated " civilians , finally settled in the Lepel area of Vitebsk . This area was overrun by partisans , and the brigade was involved in heavy combat in this area for the rest of the year . During the retreat , desertions from the brigade increased greatly , and the entire formation seemed close to disintegration . When the commander of the Second Regiment , Major Tarasov , decided to join the partisans with all his regiment ( he was offered amnesty if his entire regiment joined the partisans ) , Kaminski flew to his headquarters and according to one account , strangled him and eight others in front of his men . Despite this , up to 200 persons deserted within the following two days . By the beginning of October 1943 , the brigade had lost two thirds of its personnel , while still in possession of 12 tanks ( 8 of them T - 34s ) , one 122 - mm , 3 – 76 mm and 8 45 mm artillery pieces . On January 27 , 1944 , Himmler rewarded Kaminski ' s “ achievements ” by decorating him with the Iron Cross , 2nd Class , and on the same day with the Iron Cross , 1st Class . On February 15 , 1944 , Kaminski issued an order to relocate the brigade and Lokot administration further west to the Dzyatlava area in West Belarus . At this point , the brigade ' s ranks were replenished by the addition of police forces from Belarus . In March 1944 , the brigade was renamed Volksheer - Brigade " Kaminski " . From 11 April 1944 , it was attached to SS - Kampfgruppe von Gottberg , which also included the notorious Dirlewanger unit and participated in a series of anti - partisan operations : Regenschauer ( up to 7 . 000 partisans reported as killed ) , Frühlingsfest ( 7 . 011 partisans reported as killed and 1 . 065 weapons captured ) and Kormoran ( 7 . 697 partisans reported as killed and 325 weapons captured ) . During these operations , local civilians were shot as “ suspected partisans ” or deported as slave laborers , their villages burnt down . In the SS . In June 1944 , the brigade was absorbed as a part of the Waffen - SS and renamed Waffen - Sturm - Brigade " RONA " , with Kaminski being given the rank of " Waffen - Brigadeführer der SS " , the only man with such rank . As the result of Operation Bagration , the anti - partisan activities of the brigade were halted and its personnel ( 6 - 7 thousand persons - some sources give 3 - 4 thousand ) was collected at SS training camp Neuhammer . Plans were made for a non - German SS Division , and the structure was laid down for the 29 . Waffen - Grenadier - Division der SS ( russische Nr . 1 ) on the base of the brigade by an order issued August 1 , 1944 . On the same day , Kaminski received a new rank - Waffen - Brigadeführer and General - Major of the Waffen - SS . In Warsaw . The Warsaw Uprising started on 1 August 1944 and changed Himmler ’ s plans . On August 4 , 1944 , a combat - ready regiment of the brigade was ordered to assist in crushing the rebellion . SS - " Gruppenführer " Heinz Reinfarth was placed in charge of Kampfgruppe " Reinfarth " , a pacification unit which consisted of the " Kaminski " along with the " Dirlewanger " and several other Ordnungspolizei and SS rear area units . Himmler personally requested Kaminski ' s assistance , and the latter obliged by gathering a task force of 1 , 700 unmarried men and sending them ( some sources mentioned that they had four T - 34 tanks , one SU - 76 and few artillery pieces ) to Warsaw as a mixed regiment under field command of Kaminski ' s brigade chief - of - staff , SS - " Sturmbannführer " Yuri Frolov . Frolov stated that in 1945 the regiment had up to 1600 men and had 7 artillery pieces and 4 mortars . Frolov noted in 1945 that Kaminski gave his men permission to loot - and many did . Kaminski ' s brigade soon lost any combat worthiness and Kaminski himself focused entirely on collecting valuables stolen from civilian homes . Perhaps 10 , 000 residents of Warsaw were killed in the Ochota massacre , most murdered by Kaminski ' s men . Death . Heinrich Himmler used the misconduct of the Warsaw group as a pretext for having Kaminski and his leadership executed after trial by court martial in Litzmannstadt ( Łódź ) . They were tried for stealing the " property of the Reich " , as the stolen property was to have been delivered to Himmler , but Kaminski and his men had attempted to keep it for themselves . Also executed with Kaminski was brigade chief - of - staff Waffen - Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin . The men of RONA were given a false explanation : that Kaminski had been killed by Polish partisans . When Kaminski ' s men rejected this explanation , the Gestapo took Kaminski ' s car , pushed it into a ditch , shot it up with a machine gun , and smeared goose blood all over it — offering that as evidence . The demoralized unit was soon moved out of town and stationed to the north of it , far from any partisan activity . The death of Kaminski and the unreliability of his troops as a combat unit brought the plans to expand the Kaminski Brigade to a division to an end . After Kaminski ' s death his unit was placed under the command of SS - Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei Christoph Diehm .