{"id":120149,"date":"2024-12-30T13:15:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T10:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120149\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"supreme-court-convicts-another-dead-nazi-criminal-of-genocide","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120149\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court convicts another dead Nazi criminal of genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

December 30, Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>The Supreme Court has found deceased Konstantin Smowski guilty of genocide over his involvement in the Chaty\u0144 massacre during WW2, the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The punishment was not imposed due to the defendant’s death 65 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian-born Smowski fought against Germany as a Polish army soldier. After his capture, he served as deputy commander of Germany\u2019s 118 auxiliary police battalion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His involvement in the Chaty\u0144 massacre in 1943 was known long before the Belarusian prosecutors launched their investigation. After the end of WW2, the man emigrated to the United States, where he died in 1960.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, investigators said they had \u201cconclusive evidence\u201d to prove Smowski\u2019s guilt, including interrogation protocols, testimonies of surviving villagers and other archival documents, including German ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verdict is another one in a series of trials targeting dead perpetrators of war crimes against Belarusians, following the conviction of Vladimir Katriuk (1921\u20132015) in mid-March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government started promoting the concept of genocide against Belarusians about three years ago, while Prosecutor General Andrej \u0160vied personally contributed content for a textbook on genocide for five-graders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka signed a law providing for criminal prosecution of the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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