ABSTRACT
As the Red Army stormed west in 1944–1945, Joseph Stalin approached the newly enslaved peoples in a dual manner. First, the once Soviet-occupied territories reconquered from the Nazis were immediately reincorporated into the Soviet Union. Second, the newly seized countries were subjected to occupation by proxy with the assistance of the local Communists whose presence camouflaged the Soviet military and police colonial rule over those nations. Hence, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine reverted to the status of Soviet republics. Naturally, the re-Sovietization and the concomitant repression fueled resistance. The resistance was simply a continuation of the effort initiated during the first Soviet occupation and the Nazi rule. Most of the Belarusian people, however, accommodated pliantly like others did. In a few cases, real and alleged Soviet collaborators among them were targeted by the Poles. Some Belarusians who considered themselves Polish patriots continued their anti-Soviet struggle within the framework of the Polish underground.
