On 22 of June 1941 the Axis troops crossed the border of the USSR and in a few weeks occupied the whole of Belarus. A lot of Belarusans, especially in the Western Belarus, greeted the wsr and liberation from bolshevism. They hoped that German invasion would help them to restore independence of Belarus.

But until the every end of the war there was no answer to the question what would Germans do with Eastern Europe and Belarus in particular in case of their victory was not decided. That is why German politicy on the territory of Belarus was mainly determined by the struggle with Soviet partisans and by the economical utilisation of Belarusan resources. Also one of the greatest factors of the German East policy was the struggle between Ministry for the occupied East territories (Reichsministerium fur die besetzen Ostgebiete) under A.Rosenberg and SS (Schutzstaffeln) under H.Himler. Those were two main organisations to direct occupational policy of Germany.

Belarus was divided by the Germans into several parts - central and main part of the Western Belarus made Generalbezirk "Weissruthenien" (Whiterus-Belarus). It was the part of Reichskommissariat "Ostland".

Belastok and Grodno districts were added to East Prussia. Vitebsk, Mahilev and partly Homel and Palessie (South Belarus) regions were the part of Rear Zone of Army Group Center. Southern districts of Palessie, Brest and Homel regions were hadned to Reichskommissariat "Ukrain". Some northern territories were included in Generalbezirk "Lietuva".

Only in early 1944 administrtive borders began to resemble Belarusan ethnic bordes.

Belarusan nationalists and thier organisations acted through the whole of Belarus. In Belastok, in Vilno (Vilnius), in Eastern Belarus and Smolensk area, in Palessie they created political organisations and national military units ("Other Belarusan military formations 1941-1945").

But they were most active on the territory of Genaralbezirk "Weissruthenien".

Here on June 22 1942 organisation of Belarusan Self-Defence Free Corps was proclaimed, the first Belarusan military formation legally created during the war.