Naliboki massacre

The Naliboki massacre () was a massacre that happened on May 8, 1943 in which 127‒128 

  Poles were killed by Soviet partisans in Naliboki, a town in German-occupied Poland. The town is now located in Belarus.

Massacre

Soviet partisans stormed the town in early morning on May 8, 1943. 

  The residents could not defend themselves due to their lack of guns (26 rifles and 2 light machine guns). Polish men were dragged from their homes and shot. Among the survivors included local policemen who had hidden in an unfinished church until the Soviet partisans left the town.

Motives

The exact motives for the Soviet partisans to commit the massacre were unclear, though some research pointed to the Soviet partisans' upset about the Naliboki self-defense units refusing to join them. Moreover, it is said that the Soviet partisans broke an agreement that they made with the Naliboki self-defense units and committed the massacre.

Aftermath

Soviet war crimes

Soviet partisans looted the town, setting fire to farmhouses, fire stations, post offices and public schools. The town was almost completely burned down by Nazi troops on August 6, 1943, when they conducted the Operation Hermann ‒ a campaign against Polish partisans. Equally notable is that the Soviet NKVD persecuted the Belarusians as badly as the Poles. 

Similar massacres

The Soviet partisans committed similar massacres in Koniuchy on January 29, 1944,* 

  and in Babińsk, Derewno, Izabelin, Kamień, Kaczewo, Kromań, Ługomowicze, Narocz, Niewoniańce, Prowżały and Szczepki.

Antisemitic conspiracy theory

Since 1993, antisemites have been promoting the conspiracy theory that "Jewish partisans committed the massacre".;  Wacław Nowicki, who got information from "witnesses" for writing his memoir, is said to be the source of the conspiracy theory.

Spread

In February 2001, the Canadian Polish Congress (CPC) made the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) of Poland investigate what they had called the "ethnic crimes of Jewish groups". The IPN dismissed the conspiracy theory after they failed to find any evidence.

The conspiracy theory was further promoted by certain Polish and Belarusian "historians". Meanwhile, the Catholic newspaper Nasz Dziennik published a series of articles accusing Jews of committing the massacre, allowing the conspiracy theory to be popularized.

English Wikipedia

The conspiracy theory once existed in the relevant English Wikipedia article for years,English Wikipedia article, “Naliboki massacre,” Wikipedia, revision from 3:18, April 21, 2022. with an unrelated photo ‒ inserted by an IP user ‒ presented as "evidence". Prof. Jan Grabowski, a full professor of history at University of Ottawa, commented on the matter,

Several editors were accused of reverting edits that sought to remove the disproven mentions of Jewish involvement. One of the editors is also found to have inserted an article written by Kazimierz Krajewski, a far-right figure who reportedly "lacks broader expertise in Jewish–Polish issues", into that article as extra "evidence".

Related pages

 Volhynia massacre
 Historical revisionism
 Double genocide theory

Footnotes

References

Category:Racism
Category:Massacres
Category:War crimes
Category:Soviet crimes against humanity