Operation Details

Heinrich (i)

'Heinrich' (i) was a German operation in the Belorussia region of the German-occupied western USSR by a combined force of Sicherheitsdienst personnel, police and SS troops of the Kampfgruppe 'von Gottberg' under the command of SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Curt von Gottberg against so-called partisans (largely Jews and other 'undesirables') (25 October/9 November 1943).

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Scheduled to have lasted to 15 November but ended six days early as a result of the Soviet breakthrough at Nevel, the operation was controlled by Generaloberst Georg-Hans Reinhardt’s 3rd Panzerarmee and targeted the area of Dretun and the marshes to the north-east of Polotsk, where 5,452 persons were killed, nearly 8,000 others were deported for forced labour, and 8,000 people were evacuated for resettlement.

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After the Soviet breakthrough at Nevel, Reinhardt ordered the Kampfgruppe 'von Gottberg' to establish a barrier line that was almost immediately brushed aside by the advancing Soviet forces.

Basic Overview

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Nations Involved

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Leadership

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Formation

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