Bronislav Kaminski - Lokot Autonomy Militia and Civil Administration Leader

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 and by spring 1942 it had increased to 1.4 thousand armed personnel. The number of soviet partisan 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 man 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 Kaminskis 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-battalions brigade, around 8,000 men under arms.

By January 1943 the brigade had 9828 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 AAA 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 Tannhaüser, 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 counter offensives 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.