29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)

Sleeve patch worn by men of the RONA.

The Kaminski Brigade was an anti-Partisan formation made up of Russians, Belorussians, and some Poles from Lokot in Byelorussia. The formation saw action behind the lines of the Eastern Front during World War II. It later became folded into the Waffen SS.

Lokot Republic

When the Germans advanced into the USSR in June 1941, many saw them as liberators. While many prisoners of war were taken, many Soviets escaped capture and retreated to the forests to wage a guerrilla war on the Germans. To supply their campaigns, the Soviet partisans often raided towns and villages for food and supplies. In October 1941, near the city of Bryansk in Byelorussia, citizens of the town of Lokot banded together to defend their town from such raids. They elected the Russian born Ivan Voskoboinik as Mayor and commander of the defence. Voskoboinik's St. Petersburg classmate, the German-Polish engineer Bronislav Kaminski (former volunteer of the Red Army from the Russian Civil War), was elected as deputy commander. The Commander of Army Group Centre, Günther von Kluge and the commander of Panzergruppe 1, Heinz Guderian approved the creation of the Republic of Lokot, which received an unprecedented degree of autonomy and self rule.

The population of the republic grew as Russians, Byelorussians, and other former Soviet citizens looking to escape the harassment of the partisans began to move into the area. Soon there were too many people to be accommodated in the town, and so a militia was created to protect the expanding republic. Equipped with a mixture of antiquated Red Army uniforms and weapons, the militia began to expand.

File:Bronislav Kaminski 2.jpg

Bronislav Kaminski, Russian born leader of the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA.

During a partisan attack in January 1942, Voskoboinik was killed, and so Kaminski took over command of the Republic and its expanding militia. In cooperation with German forces, the militia began commencing aggressive anti-Partisan operations. In June 1942, the militia took part in the major anti-partisan operation codenamed Vogelsang as a part of Generalleutnant Werner Freiherr von und zu Gilsa's Gruppe Gilsa II. The militia, serving as guides, scouts and translators, stayed with the Gruppe until it was disbanded in October 1942. By late 1942, the armed forces of the Republic of Lokot had expanded to the size of a five Regiment Brigade, close to 10,000 men under arms.

Kaminski now decided to give his militia an official title. He decided on Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya (Russian National Liberation Army) or RONA. The Germans now decided to send thirty-six captured Soviet field guns and twenty-four captured T-34 tanks in various states of disrepair to reinforce Kaminski's militia, which was now rostered upon the official German order of battle as the Kaminski Brigade. The brigade was tasked with controlling the partisan presence in the forests which covered the Bryansk Oblast.

In summer 1943, the brigade began to suffer major desertions, due in part to the recent Soviet victories and 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 the 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.

Prior to Operation Citadel, the massive offensive to destroy the Kursk salient, the brigade took part in several major anti-partisan operations aimed at protecting German supply lines. In Operations Zigeunerbaron, Freischütz and Tannenhauser, the brigade was involved in action against partisans and also took part in reprisal operations against the civilian population.

After the failure of Citadel, the Soviet counteroffensives forced the brigade, along with the entire population of the Lokot Republic (around 50,000 civilians), back with the retreating Germans.

Retreat

During the retreat, desertions from the brigade increased greatly, and the entire formation seemed close to disintegration. When the commander of the Second Regiment threatened to join the partisans (he was offered amnesty if his entire regiment joined the partisans), Kaminski flew to his headquarters and according to one account, strangled him in front of his men. Despite losing many men to desertion, Kaminski instigated harsh measures to keep the brigade together.

The brigade finally settled in the Lepel area of Polotsk. This area was overrun by partisans, and the brigade was involved in heavy combat in this area for the rest of the year. Early in 1944, the brigade was relocated to Warthegau. At this point, the brigade's ranks were replenished by the addition of Belorussian police forces, resulting in a worsening of discipline.

In March 1944, the brigade was renamed Volksheer-Brigade Kaminski for a brief period, before it was absorbed as a part of the Waffen SS in June 1944. With its transfer to the Waffen-SS, the brigade was renamed Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, and Kaminski was given the rank of Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS, as the only man with such rank. Plans were made for a Russian/Byelorussian SS Division, and the structure was laid down for the 29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.1)

During this period, the brigade was attached to Kampfgruppe von Gottberg, an anti-partisan formation which also contained Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger's infamous Dirlewanger Brigade. The brigade took part in two anti-partisan operations, Frülingsfest and Kormoron which together accounted for over 14,000 partisan deaths. During these operations the brigade allegedly committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population.

The brigade and accompanying civilian refugees were due to be evacuated to Hungary, but the start of the Slovak National Uprising left it stranded in a railway trains in the southern Poland.

Poland

When the Armia Krajowa rose in Warsaw on 1 August 1944, the brigade was ordered north to assist the efforts in crushing the rebellion. SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Reinfarth was placed in charge of Kampfgruppe Reinfarth, a unit which consisted of the Kaminski along with the Dirlewanger and several other Police and SS rear area units. Himmler personally requested Kaminsky's assistance, and the latter obliged by gathering unit of 1,700 unmarried men and sending them to Warsaw under command of SS-Sturmbannführer Yuri Frolov.

File:Kaminski-Warsaw.jpg

Men of the Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA. Warsaw, August 1944

The volunteer brigade was tasked with clearing the area of Ochota, weakly defended by only 300 Poles. An attack was planned for 0800 on 5 August, but when the time for the attack came, the Kaminski volunteers could not be found. After some searching, they were found looting abandoned houses in the rear. Apparently Kaminski himself was involved in the looting, claiming he was collecting for his "Russian Liberation Fund". The attack finally got underway around 1100, and the assault went poorly, with the brigade advancing only 275 meters before nightfall. During the attack, the men captured the Radium Institute, a hospital for female cancer patients. According to Polish accounts, they began raping both patients and staff, killing any who protested. Before it was set on fire, the hospital was also looted. In the first week, the Kaminski's force and had lost 500 men wounded or killed. The men had no training or prior experience in urban combat; for many it was first time they had even seen a major city.

Mid-month, the Kaminski was moved south to the Wola sector. It fared no better in combat here than in Ochota. By 27 August, the German commanders felt the brigade was too indisciplined and unreliable. In almost a month of fighting, the brigade had still not achieved its objectives. The casualties included the RONA commander in Warsaw, Yuri Frolow, who was killed by a flame-thrower during the Polish counterattack. The same attack practically wiped out one of the brigade's companies, which had stopped their advance to loot a captured building on the front line. Kaminski himself was wounded in hand.

The performance of the brigade in battle was horrendous. As SS-Obergruppenführer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski stated in post war trials: "I saw Kaminski's men removing entire cartloads of stolen jewelry, gold watches, and precious stones. The capture of a liquor supply was more important for the brigade than the seizure of a position commanding the same street." The war diary of German Eighth Army dryly noted: "The 1st Regiment Kaminski ... has drunken itself by way of the Reichstrasse up to the Machorka Factory". Generalmajor Günter Rohr, commander of the Warsaw southern sector, demanded that the brigade be removed from his command. Bach-Zelewski agreed, the actions of the troublesome unit was slowing his efforts to suppress the Warsaw Uprising. As soon as replacement units were available, the Kaminski was pulled out of the line. Estimates of civilians murdered vary from 700 to 15,000.

The unit was then assigned to the Kampinos Forest to help seal off Warsaw. During their stay in the forest the unit artillery battery and one infantry battalion were attacked by eighty Polish partisans led by Lieutenant-Colonel "Dolina" (Adolf Pilch) in the village of Truskaw. The remnants of the battalion, which was drunk at the time of the midnight attack, fled in disarray discarding their personal weapons. The Warsaw force lost its whole artillery and much of the loot from the city; 91 SS-men died in the attack, including the units' surviving commanders. [1] Kaminski himself was called to Łódź to attend a leadership conference. During transit, Kaminski was killed. According to various sources he was either tried first or simply executed out of hand. The behaviour of Kaminski's brigade during the battle was an embarrassment to the SS, and the alleged raping and murder of two German (Strength through Joy) KdF girls may have played a part in this.

With Kaminski's death, the plans for expansion to divisional status were dropped, and the number reassigned to 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian). The remnants of Kaminski's brigade were planned to be folded into General Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army. Vlasov protested, calling them "mercenaries", and only agreed to include one out of every ten members of the brigade into his army after "careful examination"

Commanders

Ivan Voskoboinikov (? October 1941 - ? January 1942)
Waffen-Brigadeführer der SS Bronislav Kaminski (17 Jun 1944 - 19 Aug 1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Christoph Diehm (19 Aug 1944 - ? Aug 1944)

RONA Anthem

We shall not be slaves!
To the fight with the enemy we are ready day and night.
Through clouds and flames our people's flag
we shall with a strong hand carry.

Through an open and grief stricken road
in the midst of smoke and battery fire
in action and battle we go with prayer
to the freedom of our Russia!

Who believes, who dares, who's blood is inflamed
who has not forgotten oppression and shame
those are tied together with great revenge
for the ashes of our family's graves.

With pain we have paid for that which we loved
for the torturings of our fathers and children
We have not forgiven them, nor forgotten the shame
of those days suffocated with suffering.

In tight columns march our legions
to fight, for a great revenge
The millions carry on our bright flags
the freedom and honor of our people.