Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force

After Nazi Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943 and the Eastern Front began moving westwards, the occupying German authorities became concerned with mobilizing the population of the occupied lands.[5] The approaching Eastern Front and failed attempts to include Lithuanian youth in the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht units forced the occupying Nazi regime to change its policy in Lithuania, to allow the Lithuanians themselves to mobilize their own military units.[5][6]

The mobilization to the Waffen-SS was boycotted by the Lithuanians in 1943 with less than 300 men reporting.[7][8] The Nazis carried out reprisals against the population and deported 46 prominent figures and members of the intelligentsia to the Stutthof concentration camp.[7][8] All Lithuanian higher education institutions were closed by the Nazis on March 18–19.[9] The occupying German authorities intensified their hunts for Lithuanian youth for forced labour in Germany.[10]

At the end of January 1944, a compromise agreement was reached and the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force was established.[5] On January 31, the Reich SS and police leader (SSPF) signed an order on the organization of Lithuanian battalions to fight against banditry.[5] On February 1, General Povilas Plechavičius was appointed as the commander of the LTDF.[5]

By late 1943, the German leadership was forced to negotiate with Lithuanian representatives on the formation of a Lithuanian unit, who refused the German demand to organize an SS legion.[5] On November 23–24, 1943, the general councilors and members of the Nation's Council rejected the proposal to establish the Lithuanian armed forces as an SS legion.[6] Instead, they advocated for the creation of a national Lithuanian army, following the principles outlined by Lithuanian General Stasys Raštikis.[6] The principles were that the Lithuanian Army would consist of all types of units and weaponry, be commanded by a reliable Lithuanian officer and led by Lithuanian officers, as well as that all Lithuanians serving in other military units and police would be allowed to join it.[6] The Lithuanian army would only operate in Lithuania, defending it from a Bolshevik invasion, and initially consist of a 60,000-strong corps.[6] In addition, the mobilization to form the army will be initiated by the commander of the Lithuanian army.[6]

Adrian von Renteln, the General Commissioner of Lithuania, who returned from Berlin during Christmas in 1943, met with the first councilor Petras Kubiliūnas, professor Mykolas Biržiška and general Antanas Rėklaitis and explained the German position to them.[11] While agreeing to permit a Lithuanian division, the Germans nevertheless did not give into the Lithuanian aspiration of a national army.[5] The Germans agreed to rescind their erstwhile demand for a Lithuanian SS, but demanded that a German would lead the Lithuanian division and that Lithuanians must petition the Germans for its creation.[11] They also demanded that the name of the inspector general of the Lithuanian armed forces be used in place of the name of the commander of the Lithuanian army.[11]

On 3–4 January 1944, the general councilors discussed the draft petition, in whose preamble they wrote:[12]

"Violently breaking the solemn promises given to the Republic of Lithuania to respect the "sovereignty and territorial integrity and inviolability of Lithuania under all circumstances" (1926 treaty between the Republic of Lithuania and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, Article 2) on 15 June 1940, the Soviet Union's government, having militarily occupied Lithuania, falsifying the will of the Lithuanian people, and joining the territory of Lithuania to the Soviet Union with the help of the Red Army, is now again using Stalin's lips to "liberate" the Republic of Lithuania."[12]

They then requested permission to form the 1st Lithuanian Division, commanded by a senior Lithuanian officer, who would be called the inspector general.[12] The division would be created by mobilization and would be tasked with the defence of Lithuanian territory from the Soviet invasion.[12]

Adrian von Renteln removed all notions of Lithuania's sovereignty or independence from the petition and rejected the request for permission for all willing men serving in self-defense units and the police to join the LTDF.[12] Regardless, the councilors and members of the Council signed Renteln's edited petition.[12] However, the most famous Lithuanian officers did not sign Renteln's edited petition.[13]

The German administration's behaviour was assessed as such by the anti-Nazi Lithuanian Front's bulletin:[12]

"Such German tendencies still show two things: first, that they do not trust the Lithuanians and do not want to allow them a larger, more independent armed force; secondly, that they are still only pursuing their unilateral interests (military and political), disregarding the interests of Lithuanians. Militarily, they want to get people to plug the gaps in their army; politically - to announce to the world that Lithuanians are asking to be accepted under German leadership and protection to fight for the New Europe."[14]

The further development of events showed that Lithuanians understood their interests, did not identify them with Nazi plans and refused to be blindly utilized by the German occupiers.[15] Adrian von Renteln summoned general Povilas Plechavičius on January 7, 1944, to convince him that Lithuanian forces were necessary to combat Bolshevism.[15] Plechavičius informed Renteln on January 9 that he would protect his countrymen if he was given the freedom to form and lead the Lithuanian units with uninfringed leadership.[15] Since military formations could only be constituted in occupied territory with the approval of Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler, Renteln pledged to speak with Berlin.[15]

Plechavičius wrote to Petras Kubiliūnas, the first general councillor, on January 31, setting out the following conditions for his command of the Lithuanian unit.[15] The minimum 10,000-strong future brigade was to be the centre of the future Lithuanian armed forces for the anti-Bolshevik fight, exclusively controlled by the brigade's commander, and employed only inside the territory of the General District of Lithuania.[15] Upon Lithuanian military mobilization, certificates for a person's irreplaceability in the economy and such would be removed.[15] The brigade's military court would follow the Lithuanian interwar military court law to enforce discipline.[15] The brigade would be tasked with protecting strategic military sites, if not protected by the Wehrmacht, while Ukrainian and other foreign units would leave Lithuania.[15] If needed, the commander can employ other Lithuanian units in the Lithuanian General District and confiscate vehicles.[15] Lithuanian police force would obey the brigade commander's orders to ensure security and order in Lithuania.[15]

The German establishment would not issue direct orders or use the brigade's individual units at will and would not hamper its creation.[15] Deportation of Lithuanians for forced labour in Nazi Germany would stop during the brigade's creation.[15] The Lithuanians would be armed, clothed and equiped along the lines of the German army, while the relatives of their dead and wounded would be treated identically as those of the German army.[15] The General Commissioner of Lithuania appoints the brigade commander, who authors the text of the oath, together with the General Commissariat's Police Department's Head.[15]

That same day, Hermann Harm, SSPF in Lithuania, wrote Kubiliūnas a letter about Plechavičius' conditions, many of which were unmet, such as transfer of officers from police battalions, but Plechavičius agreed regardless to be the LTDF's leader.[2] According to Lithuanian general Stasys Raštikis' memoirs, there were three candidates for its commander, which were himself, Antanas Rėklaitis and Povilas Plechavičius.[16] After the refusal of the first two, Plechavičius was made commander on February 1.[16]

On 31 January 1944, the SSPF headquarters signed an order for the organization of Lithuanian battalions to fight against banditry.[16][17] That same day, the Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler issued an order to recruit 50,000 Lithuanians for the Wehrmacht's Army Group North.[16][17]

Long negotiations between SSPF Ostland Friedrich Jeckeln, Hermann Harm and Lithuanians led to an agreement about a 5,000-strong (later 10,000) unit called the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force, organized from Lithuanian self-organized military headquarters (Lithuanian: komendatūra) that had military units assigned to them.[16][17] The soldiers would wear Lithuanian insignia on their uniforms.[3] The formal agreement was signed on February 13.[3]

Lithuanian anti-Nazi resistance organizations supported the LTDF, which they wanted to use to fight against Soviet partisans in Lithuania and the Soviet Red Army when Nazi Germany was defeated.[3][17] The LTDF was to be the nucleus of the military units for the restoration of the Lithuanian state, on which the army of the Republic of Lithuania would be based.[17] The Nazi occupational authorities viewed the LTDF differently and termed its units police battalions, planning to use them for Eastern Front battles and only minimally to fight Soviet partisans.[17] The German occupying authorities also wanted to recruit tens of thousands of Lithuanians into the Wehrmacht auxiliary units through the LTDF.[17]

During the German occupation of eastern Lithuania from 1941 to 1944, there were four different military groups, whose goals differed greatly.[18] The incompatibility of the groups' goals led to an inevitable confrontation and conflict between them.[18] Individuals from the anti-Nazi Lithuanian underground and Polish Home Army attempted to negotiate a joint struggle against the Nazi occupation but failed.[18]

Soviet partisans wanted to return Lithuania to Soviet occupation and were opposed to all others: the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force, the occupying German troops, and the Polish Home Army.[18] However, Soviet partisans had similar enemies to the latter group, even if their goals differed.[18] The Polish Home Army wanted to restore the Polish state within its pre-1939 borders.[19]

From 1943, Polish partisan units began to be established in the Vilnius region, 15 of them between April and June 1944.[19] Polish partisans attacked the German and Lithuanian police as well as Soviet partisans.[19] From the end of 1943, the Polish Home Army escalated its activity and began attacking towns and district centers, terrorizing Lithuanians, be they local government officials, teachers or other civilians.[19] Sometimes the Polish Home Army de facto ruled some areas in eastern Lithuania.[19]

The LTDF's main objective was the fight against bandits and partisans widespread in eastern Lithuania.[5] On Lithuanian territory, Soviet partisans operated from two main camps, located near Lake Narach and in Rūdninkai forest, from which the partisan groups reached even Samogitia.[5] Even more numerous were the Polish partisans units from the Home Army.[5] There were also other marauding gangs.[5] Seven LTDF battalions were sent to eastern Lithuania to fight against the Soviet partisans and the Polish Home Army.[19] However, in the battles against the Polish Home Army on 5 May 1944, about 70 LTDF soldiers were killed, several hundred taken prisoner, roughly 30 of them shot in a Polish Home Army court-martial, while others were disarmed and released.[19]

The Germans provided weapons both to the Polish Home Army and the LTDF, with the goal of organizing more non-German troops to fight against the Soviet partisans and the invading Red Army.[18] Unlike in Poland, there was a period of time when officials of the Home Army Vilnius district cooperated with the Nazi German occupational administration.[18] Meanwhile, the Polish Home Army considered LTDF soldiers German collaborators.[18] The Polish–Lithuanian relations were particularly damaged by the May–June 1944 massacres in Glitiškės and Dubingiai.[18] On 6–7 July 1944, the Polish Home Army unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Vilnius, which led to several hundred of its soldiers being killed in clashes with German soldiers.[18]

The formation of the LTDF began from its headquarters.[5] On February 3, Colonel Oskaras Urbonas was appointed the LTDF's chief of staff.[5] On February 4, the following were invited as heads of departments of the headquarters:[5]

• General Staff Colonel Antanas Rėklaitis (Department I)
• General Staff Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandras Andriušaitis (Department II)
• General Staff Colonel Antanas Šova (Department III)
• Lieutenant Colonel Vladas Grudzinskas (Department IV)

Captain Justinas Liaukus was appointed adjutant of the LTDF's staff.[5] By February 8, the headquarters were almost completely formed.[5] Then began the formation of local military headquarters, whose task it was to organize the LTDF's volunteer units.[5] On February 10-12, 25 county commandants were appointed.[5] The Germans agreed to form 10 battalions, each of about 500 men.[5] It was planned to increase the number of battalions to 20.[5] The Germans promised to provide the LTDF with weapons, ammunition and food.[5]

On February 16, the Lithuanian Independence Day, Plechavičius made a radio appeal to the nation for volunteers.[3][20] The appeal was very successful and estimates put the number of volunteers between 20,000 and 30,000.[7][8] On February 21, the county commandant offices started registering volunteers.[5]

Seven battalions stationed in Marijampolė, Kalvarija and Seredžius were to form the core of the LTDF and would be used for larger operations according to Plechavičius' orders.[5] Small units were kept at the disposal of county commandants.[5] A training battalion in Marijampolė was planned for the training of officer cadres and non-commissioned officers.[5] The Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania that was the anti-Nazi resistance in Lithuania also approved the organization of the LTDF.[5]

The Germans were surprised by the number of volunteers, as their previous appeals had gone unheeded.[3] Possibly perceiving the growing popularity of the unit as a threat, they began to interfere, against the signed agreement.[3] On March 22, SS Obergruppenführer and SD General Friedrich Jeckeln called for 70–80,000 Hiwis for the Wehrmacht.[3] Chief-of-Staff of the Northern Front Field Marshal Walter Model further demanded that the Lithuanians provide personnel for 15 security battalions for the military airports.[3] General Commissioner of Lithuania Adrian von Renteln added his demand for laborers to be sent to work in Germany.[3] They were not the only German officials to issue demands for Lithuanian recruits.[3] Plechavičius rejected and resisted such demands.

By March 1, more than 19,500 men had already registered.[5] It was decided to organize 13 battalions, which were numbered 301st, 302nd, 303rd, 304th, 305th, 306th, 307th, 308th, 309th, 310th, 241st, 242nd and 243rd, and a separate training battalion.[5] March 1 can be considered the beginning of the formation of the LTDF.[5] As of March 3, the LTDF already had 553 officers, 1,522 non-commissioned officers, 3,879 who had served in the pre-war Lithuanian army, while the remaining soldiers had not served before.[5]

The creation process was not smooth because Germans did not trust the LTDF.[2] They ordered the reorganization of already formed battalions of four companies into battalions of three companies and were constantly delaying delivery of arms, munitions, means of transportation and communication.[2] Because SS did not trust the Lithuanian officers, they demanded that German officers, called Zahlmeisters, be inserted into LTDF units.[2]

An oath, similar to one used by the Lithuanian armed forces, was prepared. The oath was altered by SSPF Hermann Harm to include a personal oath to Hitler. Knowing that such an oath was unacceptable to the Lithuanian soldiers,[2] the ceremony was delayed every time and the oath was not taken until the formation disbanded itself.[2]

On April 6, Plechavičius was given an order to mobilize the entire country.[3] He refused, saying that it was impossible until the formation of his existing detachment was finished; this increased the Germans' displeasure with him.[3] Plechavičius wrote in his postwar memoirs that in late April, as the German plans to mobilize Lithuanians into the Wehrmacht became obvious, LTDF headquarters started secretly organizing underground armed forces, which would include Lithuanian Army officers, veterans of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, and former members of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union.[21] All across Lithuania, a network was secretly organized by territorial LTDF officers. The plans were to assemble around 75–80,000 men. Most of the organizational structure was laid, and it served as a basis for the armed anti-Soviet resistance.[21]

According to the LTDF's commander's order of 28 April 1944, nine of the LTDF's battalions were combined into larger units.[22] The 303rd, 305th, 306th and 309th Battalions were combined into the Vilnius Infantry Regiment.[22] Before that, the movement of the battalions to their intended destinations began.[22] Thus, the 303rd Battalion was moved from Marijampolė to its new garrison in Trakai on April 15.[22] General Staff Colonel Jonas Šlepetys was appointed commander of the Vilnius Infantry Regiment after being dismissed from the position of commander of the 306th Battalion.[22]

The 301st, 308th and 310th Battalions were combined into the Kaunas Infantry Regiment, with Colonel Tomas Vidugiris its commander.[22] At the beginning of May, the regimental commander received an order for the regiment to go to the Vilnius region.[22] There, at the request of the SS leadership, the regiment was to be split up and deployed in companies.[22]

In April, the Polish AK in the Vilnius region attempted to begin negotiations with Plechavičius, proposing a non-aggression pact and cooperation against Nazi Germany.[23] The Lithuanians refused and demanded that the Poles either abandon the disputed Vilnius region or subordinate themselves to the Lithuanians in their anti-Soviet struggle.[23] Justina Smalkyté claims that the 305th Battalion, together with Lithuanian auxiliary policemen, was involved in the round-up of peasants from a predominantly Polish village on April 29 who ended up being deported as forced labourers to Germany.[24] In early May, the LTDF initiated a widespread anti-partisan operation against the Polish and Soviet partisans in the area.[25]

Even before the combat against Polish partisans, Plechavičius issued an order condemning unkind or even brutal treatment of any inhabitants of Lithuania, no matter what language they spoke, meaning that he forbade anti-Polish actions.[26] Still, reports within the Polish Home Army (AK) accused the LTDF of anti-Polish aggression and murdering Polish civilians.[26] The Lithuanian historian Arūnas Bubnys wrote that these casualties were most likely collateral damage in the crossfire between the Polish AK and the LTDF.[26] Regardless, Polish researchers such as the sociologist Tadeusz Piotrowski, accuse LTDF units of committing atrocities against Polish civilians.[27]

On May 4, the 310th Battalion's 2nd Company, marching from Jašiūnai to Turgeliai, was attacked by Polish partisans from the 3rd AK Brigade on the way and forced to withdraw to Jašiūnai.[22][23] Company commander Major Narkevičius and two soldiers were captured and shot by Polish partisans because civilians had been killed in Merkinė (also referred to as Paulava, Polish: Pawłów).[22]

The Polish historian Piotr Łossowski claims that the Lithuanian 301st Battalion suffered 47 casualties at Hraŭžyški, and was dispersed by the 8th and 12th AK Brigades on May 5.[28]

On May 6, two companies of the 308th Battalion, marching to Hraŭžyški (Lithuanian: Graužiškės; Polish: Graużyszki), fought with Polish partisans from the 8th, 9th and 13th AK Brigades.[22] Henryk Piskunowicz claims that the unit burned the villages of Sienkaŭščyna and Adamkaŭščyna and murdered their inhabitants.[23] With about 20 people killed, 15 wounded and 70 captured, the battalion retreated to Ashmyany.[22] The Poles undressed the captives and returned them to Ashmyany wearing only their underwear.[22]

On the night of May 13, large groups of Polish partisans surrounded two companies of the 301st Battalion in Muravanaja Ašmianka (Lithuanian: Ašmenėlė; Polish: Murowana Oszmianka) and one company in Talminava (Lithuanian: Tolminovas; Polish: Tołminowo) .[22] The surrounded company was almost destroyed by the Poles.[22]

Notably, the AK organized a concentrated assault against the fortified Lithuanian positions around Muravanaja Ašmianka. The defences, reinforced with concrete bunkers and trenches, were manned by the 301st Battalion.[23] During the night of May 13–14, the 3rd AK Brigade assaulted the village from the west and north-west, while the 8th and 12th Brigades attacked from the south and east. The remainder of the Polish forces (13th and 9th Brigades) secured the Muravanaja Ašmianka – Talminava road.[20] During the battle, the Lithuanian force lost 60 men, while 170 were taken prisoner of war.

Another 117 Lithuanian soldiers were taken prisoner later that night in the nearby village of Talminava.[29] After the battle all Lithuanian prisoners were disarmed and set free wearing only their long johns and helmets.[23][30] Polish historian Rafał Wnuk claims that the weapons and uniforms taken from the Lithuanians significantly improved the equipment of the Polish forces.[31] The Poles used the element of surprise because the Lithuanians had around 150 more soldiers. The disparity in size, and the fact that Lithuanians no longer felt safe inside their own barracks, only added to the importance of the defeat.

Both sides incurred heavy loses. The LTDF's 301st Battalion lost 30 killed, including the commander of the 2nd Company, Capt. Počebutas, five wounded, and about 350 captured.[22] The captives were later brought back disarmed and stripped to their underwear.[22]

On May 15, German Lieutenant Colonel Dietl issued an order to the battalions to which he was attached to go to Vilnius.[22] On their way to Vilnius, the 310th Battalion was surrounded by SS units and disarmed.[22] When the disarmed battalion arrived at the Vilnius airfield, the Germans selected 12 men and took them away.[22] After some time, they announced that those taken away had been shot and that the guilt of the battalion had been "atoned for".[22] In addition, 41 soldiers of the LTDF who were in the guard-house in Vilnius were also killed by the Germans.[22]

Also that day, having arrived with two motorized companies in Ashmyany, Dietl gathered Lithuanian officers in Ashmyany and took them to the divisional headquarters of the 221st Security Division.[22] There, they were told that the units of the regiment were completely demoralized and unfit for combat, so the regiment was disarmed and returned to Kaunas for training.[22] The disarmed soldiers were put in a truck and taken to Vilnius.[22] The officers were arrested, and most of them were later sent to the Salaspils concentration camp.[22]

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