Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz (Alexander the Liberator)

Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz (Belarusian: Станіслаў Булак-Балаховіч, Russian: Станисла́в Була́к-Балахо́вич; 12 November 1883 – 28 November 1940) was a notable general and military commander. Despite being an ethnic Pole, Bułak-Bałachowicz was a Belarusian nationalist, advocating for the autonomy of Belarus within the Russian state or the total independence of Belarus. Ironically, Bułak-Bałachowicz served as a general in the Imperial Russian Army for his whole adult life.

During the Polish War of Independence, Bułak-Bałachowicz led the Imperial Belarusian Guard against the Polish Army in order to maintain, in his view, the "territorial integrity of Belarus". Bułak-Bałachowicz was labeled as a traitor by the Polish government, but his leadership and courage earned him the love of his Belarusian troops and the Belarusian people, as well as the respect of the Emperor.

In 1924, Bułak-Bałachowicz married Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova, the eldest sister of Emperor Alexei II. The couple had two daughters together, Natalia (1929-2011) and Alexandra (1932-1943). During the Great Caucasian War, Bułak-Bałachowicz lead the Imperial Belarusian Guard in the Siege of Sumqayit. Following the conflict, Bułak-Bałachowicz lent financial support to the Young Belarusians, a nationalist political party in Belarus. This would put him at odds with his brother-in-law.

In 1939, Bułak-Bałachowicz lead the Imperial Belarusian Guard in recapturing western Belarus from the Second Polish Republic. In Minsk, the general held a celebration in the "reconquest of the western territories", with the Emperor in attendance. In 1941, the German Army invaded Russia, Bułak-Bałachowicz remained in Minsk leading the city's final defence against the Wehrmacht, despite Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky's order for him to retreat to Saint Petersburg. Sometime during the Siege of Minsk (as part of the Białystok–Minsk Campaign), Bułak-Bałachowicz was killed in action. After the Germans captured all of Belarus, Bułak-Bałachowicz's wife and daughters were held prisoner by the Germans. They would later be sent to the concentration camps, where Natalia would be the only survivor of the family.