Lithuanian Auxiliary Police

Last updated
Lithuanian Auxiliary Police
Litauische Hilfspolizei
Lietuviu policijos Bataliono rikiuote Vilniuje.jpg
Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft standing in formation in Vilnius Cathedral Square
ActiveJuly 9, 1941 (1941-07-09) - May 1945 (1945-05)
CountryFlag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania
Type Schutzmannschaft
Operations jurisdiction German-occupied Europe including Lithuania, Belarus, northern Russia, Ukraine, and Poland [1]
Commanders
Notable
commanders

The Lithuanian Auxiliary Police was a Schutzmannschaft formation formed during the German occupation of Lithuania between 1941 and 1944, with the first battalions originating from the most reliable freedom fighters, disbanded following the 1941 anti-Soviet Lithuanian June Uprising in 1941. [3] Lithuanian activists hoped that these units would be the basis of a reestablished Lithuanian Army commanded by the Lithuanian Provisional Government. [4] Instead, they were put under the orders of the SS- und Polizeiführer in Lithuania. [5]

Contents

Lithuanian auxiliary policemen were divided into four types. The first three were: regular law enforcement policemen, firefighting policemen, and auxiliary units grouped into platoons that assisted the local police when needed. [2] The last were Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft battalions, closed formations organized into battalions, companies, platoons and groups. [2]

The battalions were charged with internal security duties and engaged in anti-partisan operations in the Wehrmacht's rear areas, e.g. Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Northwest Russia. [6] Some battalions took part in the Holocaust, most notably the 12th and the 13th battalions, which started as the Lithuanian TDA Battalions. These two battalions were responsible for an estimated 78,000 Jewish deaths in Lithuania and Belarus.[ citation needed ] While the battalions were often deployed outside Lithuania, they generally did not participate in combat. In total, 26 battalions were formed and approximately 20,000 [7] men served in them. [8] In July to September 1944, the remaining units were combined into two Lithuanian Volunteer Infantry Regiments [9]

Terminology

The units are known under a number of names. German documents referred to them as Ordnungsdienst (order service), Selbstschutz (self-defense), and Hilfspolizei (auxiliary police). [10] From September 1941, they became known as Schutzmannschaft-Bataillonen (abbreviated Schuma). In Lithuanian, the police battalions were known as savisaugos batalionai (self-defense battalions), apsaugos dalys (security units), Lietuvos apsaugos dalys (LAD, security units of Lithuania). [10]

Sources and historiography

Lithuanian Police Battalions are controversial and poorly researched.[ citation needed ] The main obstacle is the lack of reliable and objective data. During the war, journal Karys published frequent stories about the battalions, but to protect military secrets the articles were heavily censored to remove names, dates, and locations. During the Soviet period, when Soviet propaganda exploited tales of war crimes and actively persecuted former members of the battalions, objective research was impossible. Several members of the battalions managed to escape to the West and publish memoirs, but they gloss over the controversial aspects of the battalions and often deny Lithuanian involvement in the Holocaust. [11] Foreign researchers were hampered by lack of archival data.

When Lithuania declared independence, the archives became accessible to scholars. However, the documents are scattered in various archives in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Germany and Russia. In addition, recordkeeping was poor, particularly towards the end of the war. The units were subject to frequent reorganizations and restructurings; sometimes the units were themselves confused about their names or numbers. In the post-war years, the KGB produced interrogation protocols of former members of the battalions, but these are not considered reliable, as confessions were often obtained through torture or fabricated outright. Nevertheless, Lithuanian scholars, primarily Arūnas Bubnys, have published several articles analyzing the structure and activities of individual battalions. [11]

Background

Lithuanian soldier escorting a group of Lithuanian Jews in Vilnius in July 1941 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B10160, Wilna, Juden, litauischer Polizist.jpg
Lithuanian soldier escorting a group of Lithuanian Jews in Vilnius in July 1941

In June 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. The Soviets introduced harsh sovietization policies, including nationalization of larger enterprises, landholdings, and real estate. [12] Opponents of communism and the new regime were persecuted: an estimated 6,600 were imprisoned as "enemies of the people" [13] and another 17,600 deported to Siberia. [14] The Lithuanian Army was reorganized into the 29th Rifle Corps (179th Rifle and 184th Rifle Divisions) of the Red Army. More than 500 Lithuanian officers retired and 87 were imprisoned. [15]

Tbe Lithuanian Activist Front was formed in Berlin by Kazys Škirpa, former Lithuanian envoy to Germany. Its goal was to organize an anti-Soviet uprising in the event of a German-Soviet war. [16] When Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, some Lithuanians greeted the Germans as liberators from the repressive Soviet rule. [17] Many spontaneously joined the anti-Soviet June Uprising. The Provisional Government of Lithuania declared independence and Lithuanians began to form their own military and police units in hopes of recreating the Lithuanian Army. [18] The territory of Lithuania was invaded by and divided between two German Army Groups:Army Group North took over western and northern Lithuania, and Army Group Centre took over most of the Vilnius Region. [19] Therefore, developments in Kaunas and Vilnius were parallel but separate. The Germans had no intention of giving the Lithuanians independence, so the provisional government was dissolved on August 5, 1941 and partisan units disarmed. On September 26, the LAF was also dissolved and Lithuania was incorporated into the German civil administration. [20]

Formation

In the short period when the Lithuanians hoped to rebuild the state, they reconstituted part of the pre-war police, reaching about 40% (3,000 men) of its pre-war numbers, and began to recreate the army. [21] On July 5, however, German authorities forbade the reconstitution of the Lithuanian army, or any units other than self-defense units, which the Germans transformed into auxiliary police units. [22] In November, all auxiliary policemen in the eastern territories, including Lithuania, were considered Schutzmannschaften. [21]

Schutzmannschaften were divided into four types. The first was a regular police force, stationed in cities and provinces. The second type, closed formations, were organized into battalions, companies, platoons and groups. The third type was firefighting units. The fourth, auxiliary units grouped into platoons and companies, assisted regular police when needed. [2]

The first battalion, known as the Tautinio darbo apsaugos batalionas (TDA), was formed by the Provisional Government in Kaunas on June 28. [18] The Provisional Government was dissolved on August 5, 1941. The battalion was not dissolved and German Major Franz Lechthaler  [ de ] took over its command. [18] On August 7, the TDA had 703 members and Lechthaler ordered it reorganized into two battalions of auxiliary police (German : Polizeihilfsdienst bataillone; Lithuanian : Pagalbinės policijos tarnyba or PPT). During August three more battalions of PPT were formed. In October, these five battalions were renamed security battalions (Lithuanian : apsaugos batalionas). In December, the five battalions were reorganized again into battalions of Schutzmannschaft.

Lithuanians massively deserted from the Soviet 29th Rifle Corps and gathered in Vilnius. They organized Lithuanian Self-defense Units (Lithuanian : Lietuvių savisaugos dalys or LSD) in Vilnius, Pabradė, Trakai, and Varėna. [23] On July 21, 1941, LSD was reorganized into the Vilnius Reconstruction Service (Lithuanian : Vilniaus atstatymo tarnyba or VAT) with three units (Work, Order, and Security). On August 1, VAT and its three units were reorganized into three battalions of Schutzmannschaft. [24] Two more battalions were organized by October 1941.

Atrocities

Some Lithuanian auxiliary police battalions took an active part in the extermination of Jewish people in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Poland and committed crimes against the Polish and Belarusian populations. For example the 12th Police Battalion liquided Jews in Kaunas in October 1941 under the command of Antanas Impulevičius. Later that the TBD 12th battalion murdered the entire Jewish population of Slutsk in Belarus. The 2nd Police Battalion served as guards at the Majdanek death camp in occupied Poland. Of 26 Lithuanian Auxiliary Police battalions, 10 were directly involved in the destruction of Jewish people in Eastern Europe. [25] According to German reports[ specify ], Lithuanians committed 47,000 killings of Jews in Lithuania out of all 85,000 committed by Einsatzkommando there. They also killed 50,000 Belarusian Jews during the war. [26] The largest crime against the non-Jewish civilian population by Lithuanian policemen was the killing of about 400 Polish people in the villages of Švenčionėliai and Švenčionys and their surroundings. [27]

List of Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft battalions

BN# [n 1] Formed fromFormation beganFormed inFirst commander [n 2] Holocaust
[n 3] [28]
Location on
1942-08-26 [29]
Location on
1944-03-17 [10]
Date disbandedFurther fate
1st VAT Security Unit (former LSD) [24] July 14, 1941 [30] VilniusCol Lt Jonas Juknevičius [24] YesVilniusVilniusFall 1944 [31] To anti-aircraft units or Germany [31]
2nd VAT Order Unit (former LSD) [24] July 14, 1941 [30] VilniusCol Lt Petras Vertelis [30] Yes Lublin Adutiškis August 1944 [30] To various German units [30]
3rd VAT Work unit (former LSD) [24] July 14, 1941 [30] VilniusCapt Pranas Ambraziūnas [32] YesNear Minsk Near Minsk July 1944 [33] To anti-aircraft units or Dresden [33]
4th 4th battalion of PPTAugust 30, 1941 [18] KaunasCapt Viktoras Klimavičius [18] No Stalino disbandedFebruary 1944 [34] Kovel Pocket: Soviet captivity [34]
5th 5th battalion of PPTAugust 28, 1941 [35] KaunasCapt Juozas Kriščiūnas [18] No [35] Dedovichi Švenčionėliai December 1944 [35] To the 256th and 13th battalions [35]
6th Railway Protection Battalion [36] July 1941 [36] VilniusCapt Vincentas RuseckasNoVilniusVilniusAugust 1944 [37] To anti-aircraft units or Germany [37]
7th KaunasCapt Klimavičius ViktorasYes Lityn disbandedJanuary 1944 [38] To the 13th [28] and 257th battalions [39]
8th KaunasMaj Juozas JurkūnasNo Kirovohrad disbandedNov. 20, 1943 [28]
9th KaunasCapt Mykolas SlyvėnasNoKaunasKaunasJuly 1944 [40] To the 1st Lithuanian Police Regiment [40]
10th -August 1941 [41] Panevėžys Capt Bronius Kairiūnas [42] Yes [43] Panevėžys disbandedJanuary 21, 1943 [44] To the 14th battalion [44]
11th 3rd battalion of PPTAugust 15, 1941 [18] KaunasCapt Antanas Švilpa [10] Yes Korosten disbandedLate 1943 [45]
12th 2nd battalion of PPT (former TDA)August 9, 1941 [46] KaunasMaj Antanas Impulevičius [18] Extensively Minsk disbandedFebruary 1944 [47] To the 15th battalion [47]
13th 1st battalion of PPT (former TDA)June 28, 1941 [18] KaunasMaj Kazys Šimkus [18] Extensively [48] Dedovichi Opochka May 1945 [49] Courland Pocket: Soviet captivity [49]
14th -August 1941 [50] Šiauliai Capt Stanislovas Lipčius [51] Yes [52] Šiauliai Šiauliai Summer 1944 [41] To Gdańsk and Dresden [41]
15th VAT Hrodna battalion [53] July 1941 [53] VilniusMaj Albinas Levickis [54] No Baranovichi Near MinskJuly 26, 1944 [55] To Szczecin and Gdańsk [55]
250th -1941 autumnKaunasNo Pskov Daugavpils
251st -Summer 1942 [56] KaunasNoKaunasdisbandedFebruary 1943 [56] To the 2nd battalion [56]
252nd -May 25, 1942 [30] KaunasMaj Bronius Bajerčius [30] YesKaunasLublinNovember 1944 [30] To northern Yugoslavia [57]
253rd -May 1943 [40] KaunasCapt Vladas Aižinas [40] Non/aLublinAugust 1944 [40] To aviation units and Dresden [40]
254th -Spring 1942 [58] VilniusCapt Povilas Bareišis [59] NoVilniusdisbandedApril 1944 [60] To the 258th or 259th battalions [60]
255th -July 21, 1942 [61] KaunasNoKaunas Slutsk August 1944 [62] To Dresden [62]
256th -March 1943 [49] KaunasCapt Jonas Matulis [49] Non/a Panemunė May 1945 [49] Courland Pocket: Soviet captivity [49]
257th 4 representative police companies [63] October 24, 1943 [64] Capt V. Miliauskas [65] Non/a Svir  [ lt ]October 1944 [66] To Gdańsk [66]
258th Training units [67] April 27, 1944 [67] Non/an/aLate 1944 [62] To Germany near Belgian border [62]
259th -April 1944 [68] Prienai [68] Non/an/a
LietuvaLithuanians in Reichsarbeitsdienst [69] Koszalin [69] Non/an/a
Notes:
  1. Battalion number. Numbers 301 through 310 were assigned to the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force.
  2. Only the first commander is listed. Some of them were acting commanders, holding the post for a few weeks.
  3. Indicates whether the unit participated in the Holocaust. The conclusion is based on the research by Arūnas Bubnys.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Uprising in Lithuania</span> Lithuanian pro-independence and anti-Soviet uprising in June 1941

The June Uprising was a brief period of the history of Lithuania in late June 1941 between the first Soviet and the Nazi occupations.

<i>Schutzmannschaft</i> Collaborationist police force of Nazi-occupied areas of the Soviet Union during WWII

The Schutzmannschaft, or Auxiliary Police was the collaborationist auxiliary police of native policemen serving in those areas of the Soviet Union and the Baltic states occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, established the Schutzmannschaft on 25 July 1941, and subordinated it to the Order Police. By the end of 1941, some 45,000 men served in Schutzmannschaft units, about half of them in the battalions. During 1942, Schutzmannschaften expanded to an estimated 300,000 men, with battalions accounting for about a third, or less than one half of the local force. Everywhere, local police far outnumbered the equivalent German personnel several times; in most places, the ratio of Germans to natives was about 1-to-10.

The Lithuanian Security Police (LSP), also known as Saugumas, was a local police force that operated in German-occupied Lithuania from 1941 to 1944, in collaboration with the occupational authorities. Collaborating with the Nazi Sipo and SD, the unit was directly subordinate to the German Kripo. The LSP took part in perpetrating the Holocaust in Lithuania, persecuting the Polish resistance and communist underground.

Algirdas Klimaitis was a Lithuanian paramilitary commander, infamous for his role in the Kaunas pogrom in June 1941. Klimaitis was likely an officer in the Lithuanian Army. During the pre-war years he was editor of the tabloid Dešimt centų. His attitudes shifted to anti-communism and antisemitism. He joined the Voldemarininkai movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petras Kubiliūnas</span>

Petras Kubiliūnas was a Lithuanian lieutenant general and Chief of the Lithuanian General Staff in 1929–1934.

The Lithuanian TDABattalion or simply TDA, was a paramilitary battalion organized in June–August 1941 by the Provisional Government of Lithuania at the onset of Operation Barbarossa. Members of the TDA were known by many names such as Lithuanian auxiliaries, policemen, white-armbands, nationalists, rebels, partisans, resistance fighters or Schutzmannschaften. TDA was intended to be the basis for a future independent Lithuanian Army, but it was taken over by Nazis and reorganized into the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions. The original TDA eventually became the 12th and the 13th Police Battalions. These two units took an active role in mass killings of the Jews in Lithuania and Belarus. According to the Jäger Report, the TDA battalion's members killed about 26,000 Jews between July and December 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaunas pogrom</span> 1941 massacre of Jews in Kaunas, Lithuania

The Kaunas pogrom was a massacre of Jews living in Kaunas, Lithuania, that took place on 25–29 June 1941; the first days of Operation Barbarossa and the Nazi occupation of Lithuania. The most infamous incident occurred at the garage of NKVD Kaunas section, a nationalized garage of Lietūkis, an event known as the Lietūkis Garage Massacre. There several dozen Jewish men, allegedly associates of NKVD, were publicly tortured and executed on 27 June in front of a crowd of Lithuanian men, women and children. The incident was documented by a German soldier who photographed the event as a man, nicknamed the "Death Dealer", beat each man to death with a metal bar. After June, systematic executions took place at various forts of the Kaunas Fortress, especially the Seventh and Ninth Fort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holocaust in Lithuania</span> Genocide of Lithuanian Jews

The Holocaust in Lithuania resulted in the near total eradication of Lithuanian (Litvaks) and Polish Jews in Generalbezirk Litauen of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in the Nazi-controlled Lithuania. Of approximately 208,000–210,000 Jews at the time of the Nazi invasion, an estimated 190,000 to 195,000 were killed before the end of World War II, most of them between June and December 1941. More than 95% of Lithuania's Jewish population was murdered over the three-year German occupation, a more complete destruction than befell any other country in the Holocaust. Historians attribute this to the massive collaboration in the genocide by the non-Jewish local paramilitaries, though the reasons for this collaboration are still debated. The Holocaust resulted in the largest loss of life in so short a period of time in the history of Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German occupation of Lithuania during World War II</span> Period of Lithuanian history from 1941 to 1945

The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were welcomed as liberators from the repressive Soviet regime which had occupied Lithuania. In hopes of re-establishing independence or regaining some autonomy, Lithuanians had organized a a Provisional Government. It lasted six weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mečislovas Gedvilas</span> Lithuanian and Soviet politician

Mečislovas Gedvilas was a Lithuanian Communist politician who collaborated with occupying Soviet forces. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Lithuanian SSR from 1940 to 1956. Rivalry between him and Antanas Sniečkus, the first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party, led to his demotion to Minister of Education (1957–1973).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduardas Eismuntas</span> Soviet intelligence officer (1932–2019)

Eduardas Eismuntas was a former KGB officer of the Lithuanian SSR. In October 1987, he was promoted to Major General. From April 1987 to May 1990, he was the chairman of the KGB of the Lithuanian SSR. His tenure coincided with the Sąjūdis movement and declaration of independence on 11 March 1990.

10th Lithuanian Police Battalion was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion first formed in August 1941 and disbanded on 31 January 1943. The original 10th Battalion is known to have partaken in the Holocaust. A new battalion with the same name was formed after a few months and was renumbered as 256th Lithuanian Police Battalion.

Jonas Semaška, nom de guerreLiepa, Rikis, Gaučas was a Lithuanian officer of the Lithuanian Army, the Red Army's 29th Rifle Corps and then the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions formed by Nazi Germany. Semaška was a leader of Lithuanian partisans, who fought for Lithuanian independence.

256th Lithuanian Police Battalion was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion formed in August 1943. Initially, it was named the 10th Lithuanian Police Battalion, but it soon was renumbered as the 256th. It continued to fight until the Capitulation of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence Staff (Lithuania)</span> Military unit

The Defence Staff is the main staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Since 2008, the staff reports to the Chief of Defence. Its main tasks are to plan, lead, and support military operations as well as to prepare strategic military plans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Infantry Regiment (Lithuania)</span> Former Lithuanian Army formation (1918–40)

4th Infantry Regiment, later the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas was a Lithuanian Army infantry regiment that existed from 1918 to 1940 and was located in Panevėžys.

258th Lithuanian Police Battalion was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion formed on 27 April 1944. The unit was disbanded in Tilsit at the end of July that same year.

259th Lithuanian Police Battalion was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion formed in April 1944 in Prienai. It was soon disbanded in July of that same year in Tilsit. The battalion was formed from the soldiers sent by the Training Unit and the 3rd Lithuanian Construction Battalion. The 259th Battalion was the last Lithuanian Police Battalion to be formed.

The Lithuanian Front was an underground anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet Lithuanian resistance organisation active from September 1941, led by Juozas Ambrazevičius. It was one of the main anti-Nazi resistance movements in Lithuania, alongside the Lithuanian Freedom Fighters' Union (LLKS). Ambrazevičius was the most important and influential leader of the national Lithuanian resistance to Nazi German occupation.

References

  1. Bubnys 2017, p. 151-152.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bubnys 2017, p. 152.
  3. Mollo 1992, p. 26.
  4. Caballero 2002, p. 35.
  5. Arad 1990, p. 1176.
  6. Caballero 2002, pp. 35–37.
  7. "policijos batalionai". www.vle.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  8. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), p. 232
  9. Stoliarovas (2008a), p. 16
  10. 1 2 3 4 Bubnys (1998a)
  11. 1 2 Stoliarovas (2008a), p. 8
  12. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), pp. 116–119
  13. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), p. 137
  14. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), p. 140
  15. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), p. 112
  16. Bubnys 2017, p. 149.
  17. Suziedelis (2011), p. 252
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Knezys (2000)
  19. Anušauskas, et al. (2005), p. 161
  20. Bubnys 2017, p. 149-150.
  21. 1 2 Bubnys 2017, p. 150.
  22. Bubnys 2017, p. 151.
  23. Bubnys (2008b), p. 36
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Bubnys (2008b), p. 37
  25. Statiev 2010, p. 69
  26. Statiev 2010, p. 70
  27. Wnuk 2018, p. 94
  28. 1 2 3 Čekutis & Žygelis (2010-04-14)
  29. Bubnys (1998c), p. 120
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bubnys (2000)
  31. 1 2 Bubnys (2008b), p. 42
  32. Bubnys (2008b), p. 43
  33. 1 2 Bubnys (2008b), p. 48
  34. 1 2 Bubnys (2008b), p. 51
  35. 1 2 3 4 Bubnys (2001a)
  36. 1 2 Breslavskienė (September 2010c)
  37. 1 2 Stankeras (2008), p. 566
  38. Stankeras (2008), p. 567
  39. Stankeras (2008), p. 534
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bubnys (1998b)
  41. 1 2 3 Bubnys (2010), p. 84
  42. Bubnys (2010), p. 85
  43. Bubnys (2010), p. 85–86
  44. 1 2 Bubnys (2010), p. 87
  45. Bubnys (2008a), p. 52
  46. Stoliarovas (2008a), p. 21
  47. 1 2 Stoliarovas (2008a), p. 36
  48. Bubnys (2006), pp. 48–49
  49. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bubnys (2001b)
  50. Bubnys (2010), p. 81
  51. Bubnys (2010), p. 82
  52. Bubnys (2010), pp. 82–83
  53. 1 2 Bubnys (2007), p. 70
  54. Bubnys (2007), p. 69
  55. 1 2 Bubnys (2007), p. 76
  56. 1 2 3 Bubnys (2001c)
  57. Stoliarovas (2008b), p. 292
  58. Bubnys (2008b), p. 52
  59. Bubnys (2008b), p. 53
  60. 1 2 Bubnys (2008b), p. 54
  61. Breslavskienė (August 2010b)
  62. 1 2 3 4 Bubnys (2009-10-17)
  63. Stankeras (2008), p. 533–534
  64. Breslavskienė (September 2010b)
  65. Stankeras (2008), p. 533
  66. 1 2 Stankeras (2008), p. 538
  67. 1 2 Breslavskienė (September 2010a)
  68. 1 2 Breslavskienė (August 2010a)
  69. 1 2 Stoliarovas (2008a), p. 15

Bibliography

Lithuanian-language sources

Laimutė Breslavskienė

Arūnas Bubnys

English-language sources