German Propaganda of Anti-Semitism and the Policy of the Genocide of Jews: the Reaction of the Local Population and its Political Sentiments (on the Example of the General District of Belarus)

Abstract

Relevance. The article examines the actual problem of modern Russian historiography – the reaction of the population to anti-Semitic propaganda and the policy of genocide of Jews by the German occupation authorities (using the example of the General District of Belarus). The purpose: the aim of the work is to determine the specifics of the political sentiments of the population of the General District of Belarus during the period of the German occupation of 1941-1944 and its reaction to the propaganda of anti-Semitism and the policy of the Holocaust. Оbjectives: to identify historical factors that have determined the distinctive features of the mentality of the peoples of Belarus and their perception of military everyday life. Methodology: analysis, synthesis, comparison. Results. The specific features of the Belarusian mentality reflected in the perception of the population of the General District of Belarus of anti-Semitic propaganda and the genocide of Jews are determined. Conclusion. the political sentiments of the population of the district were formed under the influence of a number of objective historical factors, which include the long-term cohabitation of Belarusians and Jews, the tolerant perception of the Belarusian population of manifestations of Jewish culture and religion. The general tolerant attitude towards Jewish neighbors on the part of ethnic Belarusians was due both to the fact of their long-term cohabitation and to restrictions on their own ethnic rights both within the Polish state and within the Russian Empire. In addition, there was a rather low level of ethnic consciousness of Belarusians, who often called themselves "tuteyshy", that is, local, as a result, there were no manifestations of radical nationalism and chauvinism in the Belarusian environment. It was these circumstances that largely determined the specifics of the political sentiments of the population of the General District of Belarus. Anti-Semitic propaganda and the policy of genocide of Jews did not find support among Belarusians, most of the manifestations of anti-Semitism were characteristic of the more western regions of the occupied territory of the BSSR, which were not part of the district, with a predominantly Polish population.