Lithuanian auxiliary police
The Lithuanian Auxiliary Police consisted of paramilitary units (battalions) that were formed during the occupation of Lithuania by National Socialist Germany between 1941 and 1944.
history
Similar units, known as Schutzmannschaft battalions, were organized in other German-occupied areas of Eastern Europe. In Lithuania, the first battalions came from units formed during the anti-Soviet uprising in June 1941. The Lithuanian activists hoped that these units would form the basis for the restored Lithuanian army. Instead, these units were included in the German military apparatus during the Second World War and supported the German armed forces by e.g. B. guarded strategic objects, participated in anti-partisan operations and the Holocaust in Lithuania. Battalions No. 12 and No. 13 were particularly active in the execution of Jews and were responsible for an estimated 78,000 Jewish Holocaust victims in Lithuania and Belarus. While the battalions were also frequently deployed outside Lithuania, they generally did not take part in military combat. A total of 26 battalions were formed and approximately 13,000 men served in them. In July / September 1944, the remaining units were combined in two Lithuanian voluntary infantry regiments and deployed on the front.
See also
- Estonian auxiliary police
- Latvian Auxiliary Police
- Ukrainian auxiliary police
- Belarusian auxiliary police
literature
- Anušauskas, Arvydas; Bubnys, Arūnas; Kuodytė, Dialia; Jakubčionis, Algirdas; Titinis, Vytautas; Truska, Liudas, eds. (2005). Lietuva, 1940–1990 (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras. ISBN 9986-757-65-7 .