People who Take the path of Voluntary Collaboration with the German-Fascist Occupiers — are these «Traitors, Accelerators and Traitors of their Motherland or "Collaborationists"»?

The purpose of the study is to expand and supplement the already available information about the problem of cooperation with the enemy of the population living in the Nazi-occupied territory of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. Currently, in some works and studies, one can find examples of speculation and falsification on the topic of betrayal and cooperation of Soviet citizens with the occupation authorities and an ambiguous interpretation of this phenomenon. Moreover, attempts have increasingly been made to whitewash the traitors and accomplices of the Nazi occupation regime and present them as fighters against the Soviet government and the Stalinist regime. The author focuses on the fact that replacing the concept of «betrayal» with the concept of «collaboration» makes it possible to reevaluate the phenomenon of «betrayal» (voluntary cooperation with the occupiers) and provides a convenient opportunity to falsify many historical events that took place during the Great Patriotic War. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the study and introduction into scientific circulation of previously little-studied archival and other sources. It is concluded that attempts to justify voluntary betrayal and cooperation with the Nazis by the alleged fact that they were ideological «fighters» for freedom who fought against the totalitarian communist regime look blasphemous and cynical. The author notes with regret that Russian historiography devoted to the issues of cooperation between Soviet citizens and the Nazi invaders has adopted the tradition of Western historical science of replacing the concept of «betrayal» with the term «collaboration».