In this extended conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Franziska Exeler – author of the new monograph “Ghosts of War: Nazi Occupation and Its Aftermath in Soviet Belarus” – discusses the extremely violent history of Belarus during the Second World War; analyses the various choices people made under the dire constrains of the Nazi German occupation and the challenges of drawing on Soviet sources to analyze those choices; zooms in on the issue of Soviet retribution and its ambiguities; and reflects on how the partisan experience and narrative has continued to shape the country.