Iron Wolf (organization)

The members collected information about the activities of the political opponents of the new regime and the overall situation and mood of the general public. The reports were forwarded to the Supreme Staff which then decided on further actions.[11] If called, the members were supposed to help the Lithuanian Nationalist Union suppress protests, coups, or other anti-government disturbances.[7] Detail plans were drawn up on rapid response to threats; in this regard Iron Wolf duplicated the functions of the police and the military.[12] It does not appear that these plans were used in practice except, perhaps, on 6 May 1929 when suspects were apprehended after an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Voldemaras.[13]

Members of Iron Wolf used intimidation tactics against its political opponents. However, very little is known about the violent activities of Iron Wolf as most of these records were destroyed when the organization was liquidated in 1930.[13][14] They patrolled city streets, followed activists, on occasion engaged in public scuffles particularly with members of national minorities (Polish and Jews).[15] There is no evidence that Iron Wolf murdered anyone.[16] For example, Iron Wolf was suspected of kidnapping and torturing newspaper editor Kazys Bridžius in August 1928.[17] Bridžius refused to submit a complaint to the police and resigned; the newspaper Momentas (Moment) was taken over by the members of Iron Wolf.[18] In early 1929, a group of Iron Wolf members vandalized Jewish store signs in Kaunas; it was done without approval from the superiors and perpetrators were threatened disciplinary sanctions.[19] The number of various incidents increased after the May 1929 assassination attempt on Voldemaras.[20] The Supreme Staff lost control of some of the more extreme members and started purging the ranks.[13]

The most serious incident occurred during the night from 1 to 2 August 1929 in the Vilijampolė district of Kaunas.[19][18] During the day, communists organized a protest and the police arrested 81 people, including 76 Jews. During the night, several men (officially identified as members of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union) started patrolling the streets and asking Jews for identification documents.[19] When Jews refused, the men started beating every passing Jew. Next morning, 30 Jews submitted a complaint to the police. Initially, the official press of the Lithuanian Nationalist Union defended and excused the perpetrators. But later they were condemned and 17 men were tried in May 1932. Twelve of them were sentenced to prison for nine to two months.[19] While Iron Wolf was not mentioned in any proceedings, behind the scenes Minister of the Interior Ignas Musteikis blamed leaders of Iron Wolf for the failure to contain their men.[19][18]

Iron Wolf developed a strategy how to deal with its political opponents. Together with the police and other authorities, members of Iron Wolf searched and apprehended members of openly anti-government organizations (e.g. members of the Communist Party of Lithuania or the so-called Plečkaitininkai).[10] Members of the popular and influential Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union were recruited to join organizations established by the nationalists – the Lithuanian Catholic Union (Lietuvos katalikų sąjunga) and the Lithuanian Farmers Unity (Lietuvos ūkininkų vienybė).[10] The nationalists did not establish an organization to siphon members of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania as very few members of Iron Wolf were workers.[12]

Iron Wolf emphasized and demanded absolute obedience from its members.[21] Iron Wolf declared itself to be an apolitical organization – it did not have a political program and only stood active guard against anti-government threats. However, very quickly leaders of Iron Wolf developed their own ideology that rejected democracy for radicalism and nationalism.[19] Members were required to promote the ideas of Iron Wolf – participate in pro-government gatherings, publish articles, etc. – to create an illusion of the popular support to the new regime. Its propaganda efforts were referred to as the wolfization (suvilkinimas) of the society.[22] From 1928 to December 1929, Iron Wolf published its periodical Tautos kelias (Path of the Nation) twice a month. In total, 84 issues were published.[23] It was a lot more radical than other periodicals published by the Lithuanian Nationalist Union.[19] In this periodical, Iron Wolf did not defend that it was chauvinist but rejected any accusations that it was anti-Semitic. In its internal documents, Iron Wolf prohibited any excesses against the Jews but worked on a program to reduce Jewish economic influence and to support Lithuanian-owned businesses (i.e. to "free Lithuanians from economic subjugation by the Jews").[19] Tautos kelias published some articles exposing corruption or lack of patriotism based on the secret reports submitted to the Supreme Staff. The newspaper was sued several times for publishing false information and slander.[11]

The members were mandated to join the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union which had somewhat similar goals of creating a people's militia. Joining the riflemen allowed members to acquire and practice weapons without raising suspicion. Eventually, Iron Wolf planned to infiltrate the riflemen and "cleanse" it from "ideologically unreliable" personnel.[4] Iron Wolf promoted sports particularly those that were related to military preparedness. Special attention was paid to shooting sports and weapons instruction. Iron Wolf hired military instructors and requisitioned three machine guns.[24] Starting in fall 1928, Iron Wolf started creating sections of the sports union in various schools to recruit youth into the organization. When Iron Wolf sections were blocked by legal obstacles, the organization worked with school groups organized by Young Lithuania, the youth branch of the Lithuanian Nationalist Union.[25] In April 1929, Minister of Education Konstantinas Šakenis approved school curriculum on military preparedness and removed legal obstacles for Iron Wolf to organize student groups.[26] In parallel, Iron Wolf worked to infiltrate and "cleanse" Dr. Jonas Basanavičius Nationalist Teachers' Union and to remove "non-patriotic" teachers from schools.[27]