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.
Read more about this topic: Bronislav Kaminski