The Punishers

In 1942, the German punitive units from the Dirlewanger SS battalion destroyed the village of Borki with all its residents, including women, children, nursing infants, the elderly, and the disabled. Aleś Adamovich’s novella “The Punishers” is an attempt, as far as possible, to understand the motivations of the main characters who agreed to commit such bestial acts. The book is based on documentary testimony. Many of the characters have real-life prototypes.