Ghosts of war Nazi occupation and its aftermath in Soviet Belarus Exeler, Franziska creator author. text bibliography History. nyu 2022 monographic eng print xiv, 344 pages : illustrations, , maps ; 24 cm "How do states and societies confront the legacies of war and occupation, and what do truth, guilt, and justice mean in that process? In Ghosts of War, Franziska Exeler examines people's wartime choices and their aftermath in Belarus, a war-ravaged Soviet republic that was under Nazi occupation during the Second World War. After the Red Army reestablished control over Belarus, one question shaped encounters between the returning Soviet authorities and those who had lived under Nazi rule, between soldiers and family members, reevacuees and colleagues, Holocaust survivors and their neighbors: What did you do during the war? Ghosts of War analyzes the prosecution and punishment of Soviet citizens accused of wartime collaboration with the Nazis and shows how individuals sought justice, revenge, or assistance from neighbors and courts. The book uncovers the many absences, silences, and conflicts that were never resolved, as well as the truths that could only be spoken in private, yet it also investigates the extent to which individuals accommodated, contested, and reshaped official Soviet war memory. The result is a gripping examination of how efforts at coming to terms with the past played out within, and at times through, a dictatorship."-- Introduction: truth, guilt, and justice in an illiberal state -- Contested space: an East European borderland before 1941 -- At the heart of darkness: wartime choices, 1941-1944 -- Post-1944: the moment of return -- Determining guilt: the Soviet politics of retribution -- Loss, grief and reckonings: personal responses to the ghosts of war -- Belarus, the partisan republic: narrating the years of war and occupation. Franziska Exeler. Includes bibliographical references and index. e-bw--- World War, 1939-1945 Social aspects Belarus World War, 1939-1945 Influence Belarus History German occupation, 1941-1944 Belarus Social conditions 20th century Belarus Politics and government 20th century Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) Politics and government Social aspects Social conditions Belarus German Occupation of Belarus (Belarus : 1941-1944) fast (OCoLC)fst01353170 World War (1939-1945) fast (OCoLC)fst01180924 1900-1999 fast D802.B38 E94 2022 940.53/478 Ghosts of war Exeler, Franziska. Ithaca, [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2022 (DLC) 2021026034 9781501762734 1501762737 9781501762741 9781501762758 2021026033 NIC/DLC 210712 20220523183115.2 in00004576163 eng