During World War II , the Naliboki Forest hosted many thousands of those who escaped from Nazi terror and formed partisan troops – Soviet , Jewish and Polish as well as criminals without any political ideals . The estimated number of armed troops in the forest varies from 10 to 25 thousand . Relations between them were not easy : in specific , on May 8 , 1943 the Naliboki massacre occurred , and an estimated 128 local citizens were killed by Soviet partisans . In June 1943 , the town of Ivyanets was liberated for a short while from the Nazis by the partisans of the Polish Home Army , supported by Soviet partisans . Nazi " pacification " action in response , known as Operation Hermann , on July 1943 , employed about 52,000 armed troops which devastated most of the villages and towns of the forest . Hundreds of thousands of the local people were killed or driven to Germany for forced labour . Operation Hermann was targeted especially against the Catholic resistance , and in particular , Franciscan friars Józef Achilles Puchała and Karol Herman Stępień , beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 , were tortured to death by the Nazis . Most of the partisans , however , managed to escape the Nazi blockade . Starting in Autumn 1943 , after the Naliboki massacre , relations between Polish and Soviet partisans became openly hostile
Naliboki massacre
Naliboki massacre
Naliboki forest