From March 26th to April 6, 1942, the 707th Security Division, 315th Police Battalion, and a Slovak Infantry Regiment took part in the mass killing of civilians in the Hlusk district of occupied Belarus under the guise of "anti-partisan actions". These actions were codenamed "Operation Bamberg".
Plans for the operation began on February 26th, 1942. In the north, the operation was to be conducted by the 707th Security Division. In the area of Mosyr-Shitkovichi the 315th Police Battalion along with a Slovak Infantry Regiment were to conduct the operation.
The goals of Bamberg were:
1. Destroy the main partisan bands
2. Pacify the area
3. Collect the grain and other resources like livestock
On March 26th, 1942, Bamberg came underway. The 707th Security Division along with the 315th Police Battalion destroyed villages and massacred the inhabitants near Kopakewiczi. 1,350 people were locked into their houses and then killed in Chwoineja. 190 were killed while in a clubhouse at Oktiabrskij. At Kowali, children were burned to death.
There was not much resistance at all during the operation, and most of the victims were civilians instead of partisans, as was common with almost all Nazi "anti-partisan" sweeps. Most of the partisans in the area got away. 7 Germans did die, and the Axis lost 47 firearms during Operation Bamberg.
In total, about 3,500-5,000 were killed by the Axis occupation forces during Operation Bamberg. The actions of the 707th Security Division at Kopakewiczi count as a Wehrmacht war crime, as the 707th Division was a part of the Wehrmacht.
SOURCES:
"Major Anti-partisan actions in Belorussia"
"The General Staff and High Command of the Armed Forces. The Nuremberg Charges. Part IV". Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
Nechama Tec, Defiance: The Bielski Partisans
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