Usievalad Rodzka

Following the beginning of the German occupation of Byelorussia, Rodzka was appointed as burgomaster (mayor) of Vitebsk on 3 July 1941. Together with Hadleŭski, Rodzka was recruited by the Abwehr and tasked with spreading anti-Soviet propaganda in occupied Belarus. As mayor of Vitebsk, Rodzka was tasked with the Derussification of the city and the promotion of Belarusian culture. He maintained close personal contacts with Taras Bulba-Borovets and Stepan Bandera, both Ukrainian nationalist leaders.[2]

In 1942, following Hadleŭski's execution, Rodzka became head of the Belarusian Independence Party's central committee. He began working with Mikola Abramchyk, head of the Belarusian People's Republic in exile, in 1943 developing a plan to flee to Berlin and continue agitation for Belarusian independence there. However, Abramchyk's plans were interrupted by German authorities, who forced him to return to Paris.[2]

As leader of the Belarusian Independence Party, Rodzka appointed cadres of various chapters, corresponding with the territory of the Belarusian People's Republic. Among other appointments, Michał Vituška was selected as chief of the Smolensk chapter of the party, while his ally Dzmitryj Kasmovič was appointed as chief of the party's Bryansk chapter. The public was ideologically indoctrinated in anti-communist activism, including preparing youths for military service.[2]

It has been claimed that Rodzka formulated plans to revolt against Germany, following the example of Bandera's 1941 declaration of independence and the subsequent creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. However, such plans never came to fruition, and it has been postulated by historian Siarhiej Jorš that Vituška, instead, formulated such plans. Following Operation Bagration, existing plans for a revolt in 1944 were cancelled, with the Soviet Union being viewed as a more significant threat than Nazi Germany, and cooperation was strengthened between the Belarusian Independence Party and the Abwehr.[2]

In 1944, Rodzka was appointed to the Belarusian Central Council, and became a member of the Central Council's presidium. As part of the presidium, Rodzka worked closely with fellow Belarusian Independence Party member and personal friend Mikalaj Škialionak, with Rodzka being placed in charge of youth affairs and Škialionak propaganda activities.[2]

In August 1941, Rodzka, along with Jakub Chareǔski and Michał Vituška, led Belarusian collaborationist troops in combat against Belarusian partisans in the Polesia region. In 1944, Rodzka expressed his belief that Belarusian military units needed to be established and modernised, referencing the interwar Polish army as a source of inspiration for organising Belarusian nationalist forces. That year, the Byelorussian Home Defence was organised as a vehicle to mobilise Belarusian nationalists against the advancing Red Army. Rodzka was on 20 March 1944 placed as a lieutenant in charge of propaganda. However, unsatisfied with this role, Rodzka soon moved to participate directly in combat, and participated in the destructive[4] Operation Frühlingsfest against Belarusian partisans.[2]

Following the capture of Vitebsk, Belarusian nationalist soldiers and politicians, Rodzka among them, began to retreat west. In the village of Dahlwitz, in East Prussia (now Listovoye, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), Rodzka underwent Abwehr training in sabotage, and was appointed as political commissar of the Dahlwitz Landing Battalion. Rodzka felt a calling to be political and military leader of the anti-Soviet forces remaining in Belarus, and established contacts with the forest brothers in the Baltic States, as well as Bulba-Borovets and Bandera. Rodzka also spoke unsuccessfully in favour of an alliance between the Central Council and the Russian Liberation Army of Andrey Vlasov, being the only member of the Central Council to support such a measure.[2]