Operation Winterzauber

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Operation Winterzauber
Part of Bandenbekämpfung in German-occupied Belarus and the Eastern Front of World War II
Date 15 February – 30 March 1943 (1943-02-15 – 1943-03-30) Location Byelorussian SSR: Verkhnyadzvinsk, Polotsk, and Rasony Districts Russian SFSR: Sebezhsky District
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Jeckeln Viktors Arājs	Pyotr Masherov[1][2]
Units involved
3rd Panzer Army Latvian Auxiliary Police Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions Ukrainian Auxiliary Police	Soviet Belarusian partisans Soviet Latvian partisans
Strength
4,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
	70-221 (estimated by Dyukov)
Asvieja District: Several hundred villages destroyed 11,383 civilians killed 14,175 captured for forced labour Estimate by Aleksandr Dyukov: 439 villages destroyed 10,000-12,000 civilians killed Over 7,000 deported to Salaspils camp 15 km (9.3 mi) "dead zone" completely depopulated

Operation Winterzauber (also translated into English as Operation Winter Magic) was an anti-partisan operation from 15 February to 30 March 1943 aimed at creating a depopulated zone of 30–40 km (19–25 mi) along the Belarusian–Latvian border. It was mainly conducted by Latvian collaborators under German command in northern Belarus and in Sebezhsky District in Russia. In the Soviet Union, the operation became known as the Osveya Tragedy.^[a] The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation has described Operation Winterzauber as a crime against humanity.

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