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256th Lithuanian Police Battalion
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. Formation On 24 March 1943, the battalion started being formed in the Žaliakalnis' barracks in Kaunas, which used to house the 1st Hussar Regiment. The Chief of Ordnungspolizei in Lithuania ordered that the newly formed battalion should be formed from policemen of the Schuma and public police suitable for SS service. It was foreseen that the battalion would consist of 715 officers and men, all of which were to be sent from the public police and auxiliary police battalions. So, about two hundred soldiers and fifteen officers were transferred from other Lithuanian auxiliary police battalions to the 10th Battalion, as well as five hundred policemen of the Public Police from Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German-occupied Lithuania
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 widely welcomed as liberators from the repressive Soviet regime which occupied Lithuania prior to the German arrival. In hopes of re-establishing independence or regaining some autonomy, Lithuanians organized a Provisional Government. Thousands of Lithuanian nationalists then cooperated with the Generalkommissariat, jointly killing almost 200,000 Jews, which marks the highest death rate in any country during the Holocaust. Background In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol, dividing Central and Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere, likely due to its economic dependence on German trade. After the March 1939 ultimatum regarding t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vytautas The Great War Museum
The Vytautas the Great War Museum ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus) is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was built in Art Deco and early functionalism style. Originally it was established in 1921 by Vladas Nagevičius but later it was decided to move to a larger location. A part of the new museum was opened in 1930, at the 500th anniversary of Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania, the namesake of the museum. The finished museum was opened on 16 February 1936. Museum displays historical artefacts pertaining to Lithuania and Kaunas from prehistoric times to the present day, including a large collection of historical weapons. There are expositions dedicated to the military skills of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vytautas the Great Chapel, collections of weapons, firearms, ammunition, army uniforms of various states, defense of the Kaunas Fortress in 1915, and others. The airplane ''Lituanica'', on which Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas flew across the Atlantic Ocean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th Lithuanian Police Battalion
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that spreads in school-aged children * Fifth force, a proposed force of nature in addition to the four known fundamental forces * Fifth (Stargate), a robotic character in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' * Fifth (unit), a unit of volume used for distilled beverages in the U.S. * Fifth-generation programming language * The fifth in a series, or four after the first: see ordinal numbers * 1st Battalion, 5th Marines * The Fraction 1/5 * The royal fifth (Spanish and Portuguese), an old royal tax of 20% Music * A musical interval (music); specifically, a ** perfect fifth ** diminished fifth ** augmented fifth * Quintal harmony, in which chords concatenate fifth intervals (rather than the third intervals of tertian harmony) * Fifth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wound Badge
The Wound Badge (german: Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the world wars, it was awarded to members of the German armed forces who fought on the Nationalist side of the Spanish Civil War, 1938–39, and received combat related wounds. It was awarded to members in the ''Reichswehr'', the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during World War II. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied bombings, it was also awarded to civilians wounded in air raids. It was awarded when the wound was the result of enemy hostile action. In 1957, the West German government authorized a denazified (Swastika removed) version of the basic (black, silver, & gold) badges for wear on the Bundeswehr uniform, among other certain Nazi-era wartime awards. Classes The badge had three classes: * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuriev Monastery
The St. George's (Yuriev) Monastery (russian: Юрьев монастырь) is usually cited as Russia's oldest monastery. It stands in 5 kilometers south of Novgorod on the left bank of the Volkhov River near where it flows out of Lake Ilmen. The monastery used to be the most important in the medieval Novgorod Republic. It is part of the World Heritage Site named ''Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings''. History According to legend, the monastery of wood was founded around the year 1030 by Yaroslav the Wise whose baptismal name was George ( orv, Гюрьгi, ) after Saint George. The first historically reliable reference to it is from the early 12th century when the stone building of the main church (the Church of St. George, Georgieveskii Church) was started in 1119 by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod and Pskov and Hegumen (roughly equivalent to a western prior) Kyuriak (Kirik) and built by the master Peter. By the first third of the 13th century the hegumen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karys
''Karys'' (literary: ''soldier'') is a Lithuanian-language military magazine published since 1919. It is a magazine about the Lithuanian Army and is geared towards the soldiers and the general public. During the interwar period (1919–1940) it was published weekly in Kaunas by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and the General Staff of Lithuania. During World War II, it was a magazine of the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions. During the Soviet period (1950–1990), it was published monthly by Lithuanian veterans in New York. After the restoration of independence in 1990, it is once again published monthly by the Ministry of Defence. The circulation was 4,000 copies in 1920, 33,000 copies in 1940, 1,650 copies in 1983, 22,000 copies in 1991, 3,000 copies in 2005. History Interwar and World War II The first 8-page issue appeared on 22 May 1919 titled ''Kariškių žodis'' (Word of Soldiers) in Kaunas. At the time, the newly established Lithuanian Army was fighting i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established in January 1918. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Starting in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in 1991. The Red Army provided the largest land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II, and its invasion of Manchuria assisted the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan. During operations on the Eastern Front, it accounted for 75–80% of casual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division
The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation The division was formed in October 1939, when thousands of members of the ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Orpo) were drafted to fill the ranks of the new SS division. These men were not enrolled in the SS and remained policemen, retaining their Orpo rank structure and insignia. They did not have to meet the racial and physical requirements imposed for the SS. Himmler's purpose in forming the division was to get around the recruitment caps the Wehrmacht had succeeded in placing on the SS, it also provided a means for his policemen to satisfy their military obligation and avoid army conscription. The first commander was ''Generalleutnant der Polizei'' (Major-General) Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, a career police commander who had been a general staff officer during World War I; simultaneous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvian Auxiliary Police
Latvian Auxiliary Police was a paramilitary force created from Latvian volunteers by the Nazi German authorities who occupied the country in June 1941. It was part of the ''Schutzmannschaft'' (Shuma), native police forces organized by the Germans in occupied territories and subordinated to the Order Police (''Ordnungspolizei''; Orpo). Some units of the Latvian auxiliary police were involved in the Holocaust. One of its units, the Arajs Kommando, was notorious for killing 26,000 civilians during the war, mostly Jews, but also Communists and Romas. In addition to regular stationary police (patrolmen in cities and towns), 30 Police Battalions were formed. These mobile groups carried out guard duties of strategic objects or building fortifications, participated in anti-partisan operations and fought on the Eastern Front. Formation of units The auxiliary police force consisted primarily of those who had served in Latvian police, army, and militia organization which had been di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Division
The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer Division (''División Española de Voluntarios'') by the Spanish Army and 250th Infantry Division (''250. Infanterie-Division'') by the Germans. Spain was ruled by an authoritarian regime under Francisco Franco, who had secured power after the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), during which they received support from Nazi Germany. Franco chose to remain neutral in World War II but sympathised with the Axis powers. After lobbying by the Foreign Minister Ramón Serrano Suñer and senior figures within the Spanish Army, Franco agreed that Spanish people would be permitted to enlist privately in the German Army and agreed to provide tacit support. An infantry division was raised from Falangist and Army cadres and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volkhov (river)
The Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is a river in Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. It connects Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga and forms part of the basin of the Neva. The length of the river is , and the area of its drainage basin is . The city of Veliky Novgorod, the towns of Kirishi, Volkhov and Novaya Ladoga, and the historically important village of Staraya Ladoga are located along the Volkhov. Etymology A number of etymologies, none universally accepted, have been proposed for the name of the river. In his ''Etymological dictionary of the Russian language'', Max Vasmer doubted some philologists' opinion that the river's name is related to the Finnish ''velho'' ("magician") or Russian ''volkhv'' ("pagan priest"). Geography The Volkhov flows out of Lake Ilmen north into Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. It is the second largest tributary of Lake Ladoga. It is navi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Ilmen
Lake Ilmen ( rus, И́льмень, p=ˈilʲmʲɪnʲ) is a large lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod - which is a major trade-center of the route - lies six kilometers below the lake's outflow. According to the Max Vasmer's ''Etymological Dictionary'', the name of the lake originates from the Finnic ''Ilmajärvi'', which means "air lake". Thanks to Novgorodian colonisation, many lakes in Russia have names deriving from Lake Ilmen. Yuri Otkupshchikov has argued that the presence of the name "Ilmen" in Southern Russia can't be explained by the Novgorodian colonisation alone, and proposed a Slavic etymology instead. Откупщиков Ю. В. Индоевропейский суффикс *-men-/*-mōn- в славянской топонимике // Откупщиков Ю. В. Из истории индоевропейского слово ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
