He has more than four thousand victims on his account. The story of the punisher Semyon Serafimovich

News of the topic Semyon Serafimovich was born in 1910 in the village of Skomaroški, Minsk province. Later, this territory was part of Poland. The family of wealthy peasants had three children. Serafimovich served in the Polish army, and then worked as a miller. How did he turn into a cruel killer? We tell you in the BELTA "Chronicles" project.

- Starting from the age of 11, the boy was raised in an area where capitalist relations continued to develop. There is information that he later owned a mill. When Soviet power came to power in 1939 and Western and Eastern Belarus were reunited, this mill was nationalized on September 17. Serafimovich continued to work there. As we can see, he was a representative of such a wealthy peasantry, - said Sergei Kaun, senior lecturer at the Belarusian State University.
In the Polish army, Serafimovich was a cavalry sergeant. At that time, it was a prestigious branch of the military.

- I wanted to make a career by any means, primarily in the military sphere. I actively strived to get to the top and managed to achieve a position that for many Western Belarusians was the limit of the career ladder at that time. It is worth noting that he used any opportunities for advancement regardless of the means that were required for this, - noted Vitaly Garmatny, Senior Researcher at the Center for Military History of Belarus, PhD in History, Associate Professor.

Serafimovich went over to the side of the occupiers immediately after the start of the war. Without threats, doubts and regrets.

- He hated the Soviet government due, apparently, to proprietary issues. I immediately joined the auxiliary police. By the beginning of the war, he was already 31 years old. He had already served in the Polish army, that is, he had some combat experience. They remember that he often rode a horse, he had a saber, sometimes he used it, - added Sergei Kaun.
At first, Serafimovich became the head of the so-called small-town police in the village of Turets. He was the commandant of the garrison.

- His atrocities are the very first episode of a mass punitive operation to exterminate the prisoners of the ghetto, which was located in the town of Turets. The ghetto residents were driven out into the street and lined up. About 100 fairly young people who could still work and be useful to the occupation authorities were selected. The rest, about 500 people, were sent to the graves already prepared nearby and shot. The atrocity was committed by fascists, Germans, but members of the auxiliary police provided them with great assistance, they escorted them to the place of execution, - explained the deputy head of the Department of State Prosecution and Appellate Proceedings of the Main Department of Criminal and Judicial Supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus, Alexander Demidov.



In 1943, Serafimovich was entrusted with the formation and command of a reinforced punitive detachment of the auxiliary police of the city of Baranovichi, which took part in one of the largest punitive actions - "Herman".
- Operation "Herman" was carried out in July-August 1943. The task was to destroy the partisans as much as possible, deprive them of food supplies and support from local residents. Therefore, not only were battles with the partisans carried out, but cattle was also driven away from those villages that sympathized with the partisans. Serafimovich and his henchmen acted as German spies, reported on the mood in this or that village, and also directly carried out punitive operations. At that time, the murder of at least four people by the hands of Serafimovich was recorded, - said Vitaly Garmatny.

- They destroyed people on the territory of Belarus - captured, shot, burned, hanged, tortured, and so on. As the same Oswald Rufeisen recalled, Serafimovich even killed with a stake. According to the criminal case, the murder of 4,144 people was proven, including 626 children. That is, he killed children, and often did it personally. Often he gave orders as a leader, a commander. During the war, as his translator noted, he drank a lot. That is, he was in a statealcohol intoxication , which made him very aggressive and so on, - added Sergey Kaun.

When Serafimovich managed the police in Mir, he collected taxes, food , maintained law and order. That is, there were many tasks.
- When he transferred to a special punitive detachment, his main task was to fight the partisans. That is, it was a well-armed, trained military unit that constantly participated in clashes, - clarified Alexander Demidov.

Serafimovich committed atrocities with impunity throughout the war. It was important for him not just to kill, he wanted to see the suffering of defenseless people.

- As witness Alexander Vecherka recalled, Serafimovich himself killed his great-grandfather Aleon Vecherka, who was the first chairman of the collective farm in Pogoreltsy. As well as the chairman of the local village council and one of the residents with whom he once had a conflict at the mill where he once worked. According to witnesses, Serafimovich took great pleasure in personally eliminating those with whom he had previously had some kind of conflict. He proved himself to be an executive servant who did not stop at any task. Eyewitnesses said that it was a great pleasure for him not just to kill, but to torture and torment a person. In addition to shooting at point-blank range, he also liked to beat with a club first, break arms and legs, - explained Vitaly Garmatny.
- He organized a brothel, raped Jewish girls and immediately killed them so that they would not tell anything. What can be said about such a person? There are even specific names. Four girls, with his henchmen. Everything burst out of the man, the beast inside came out, - added Sergei Kaun.

Serafimovich did not want to answer for his crimes. When it became clear that a turning point had come in the war, the traitor tried to save himself. How? Watch in.

| Prepared based on BELTA video. Screenshots of the video.

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