Belarus was under Nazi occupation for three years. The Nazis killed people of all nationalities through punitive operations, ghettos, and encircling concentration camps. During the Great Patriotic War, one in every three people in Belarus died. But the people of the Soviet Union endured all the horrors of war and never lost faith in victory. The resistance movement in Belarus was one of the largest. Even children and teenagers joined the partisans to fight for their homeland.
The occupation ended in 1944, when the Red Army, together with the partisans, launched Operation Bagration — the largest military operation in history. Thanks to their combined efforts, Belarus was liberated.
Belarus: A Land Unbroken