Operation Winterzauber

Operation Winterzauber
	Part of Bandenbekämpfung in German-occupied Belarus and the Eastern Front of World War II
Date	15 February – 30 March 1943
Location	Byelorussian SSR: Verkhnyadzvinsk, Polotsk, and Rasony Districts; Russian SFSR: Sebezhsky District;
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Jeckeln; Viktors Arājs;	Pyotr Masherov
Units involved
3rd Panzer Army; Latvian Auxiliary Police; Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions; Ukrainian Auxiliary Police;	Soviet Belarusian partisans; Soviet Latvian partisans;
Strength
4,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
	German estimate; Several hundred villages destroyed; 3904 civilians killed; 7,465 captured for forced labour; 2,000 deported to Salaspils camp; Russian estimate by Aleksandr Dyukov:; 439 villages destroyed; 10,000–12,000 civilians killed; Over 7,000 deported to Salaspils camp; 15 km (9.3 mi) "dead zone" completely depopulated;

Operation Winterzauber (also translated into English as Operation Winter Magic) was an anti-partisan operation from 15 February to 30 March 1943 aimed at creating a depopulated zone of 30–40 km (19–25 mi) along the Belarusian–Latvian border. It was mainly conducted by Latvian collaborators under German command in northern Belarus and in Sebezhsky District in Russia. In the Soviet Union, the operation became known as the Osveya Tragedy. The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation has described Operation Winterzauber as a crime against humanity.