Lithuanian partisans is a generic term used during World War II by Nazi officials[1] and quoted in books by modern historians[2][3] to describe Lithuanian anti-communist fighters, thus collaborators with the Nazis during the first months of the German occupation of Lithuania during World War II. A part of the Lithuanian partisans who fought against the Red Army during the June Uprising, were later organized into various auxiliary units by German Nazis. A minority of the units assisted and actively participated in mass executions of the Lithuanian Jews mostly in June–August 1941.
The term "Lithuanian partisans" might apply to several different and unrelated groups during 1941 and later:
- A group led by Nazi agent Algirdas Klimaitis and active in Kaunas at the end of June 1941
- Tautinio Darbo Apsaugos Batalionas (TDA) was formed in Kaunas as basis for independent Lithuanian army, but soon transformed into a Nazi auxiliary unit participating in executions of the Jews at the Seventh and Ninth Forts
- Rollkommando Hamann and its Lithuanian auxiliaries from TDA, responsible for mass murders in the countryside[4]
- Lithuanian Police Battalions formed in Vilnius from 3,600 deserters from the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Corps of the Red Army[5]
- Ypatingasis būrys formed in Vilnius and participants in the Ponary massacre
References
edit- ^ "The Jager Report". A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. Florida Center for Instructional Technology. 2005. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ Ganor, Solly (2003). Light One Candle: A Survivor's Tale from Lithuania to Jerusalem. Kodansha America. p. 351. ISBN 1-56836-352-4.
- ^ Arad, Yitzhak (2004). "The Murder of the Jews in German-Occupied Lithuanian (1941–1944)". The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews. Rodopi. p. 187. ISBN 90-420-0850-4.
- ^ Bubnys, Arūnas. "Lithuanian Police Battalions and the Holocaust" (PDF). The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. pp. 12–13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ Piotrowski, Tadeusz (1997). Poland's Holocaust. McFarland & Company. p. 164. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.