Lithuanian Secret Police
The Lithuanian Security Police (LSP), also known as Saugumas ( lt, Saugumo policija), was a local police force that operated in German-occupied Lithuania from 1941 to 1944, in collaboration with the occupational authorities. Collaborating with the Nazi Sipo (security police) and SD (intelligence agency of the SS), the unit was directly subordinate to the German Kripo (criminal police). The LSP took part in perpetrating the Holocaust in Lithuania, persecuting Polish resistance and communist underground. Background and formation When Soviet Union occupied Lithuania on 15 June 1940, the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs was liquidated and replaced by the Soviet NKVD. Many former employees of the Ministry were arrested and imprisoned as so-called enemies of the people. When Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Lithuanians organized an anti-Soviet June Uprising in hopes that they could restore Lithuanian independence. Therefore, they started restoring pre-Sovi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Occupation Of Lithuania During World War II
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]   |
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Karl Jäger
Karl Jäger (; 20 September 1888 – 22 June 1959) was a German mid-ranking official in the '' SS'' of Nazi Germany and ''Einsatzkommando'' leader who perpetrated acts of genocide during the Holocaust. Early life and career Jäger was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and moved with his father to Germany when he was 3 years of age. Jäger enlisted in the German Imperial Army at the start of World War I, where he received the Iron Cross (1st Class) and other awards. After the war, Jäger, an orchestrion maker by profession, obtained a managerial position with the Weber orchestrion factory in Waldkirch. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 (party n°. 30988) and founded the local party chapter, as a result of which he became known as "Waldkirch's Hitler" among the ''Alte Kämpfer'' (Old Fighters), as those who had joined before the ''Reichstag'' election of September 1930 called themselves. The Weber company went bankrupt in 1931, and he was unemployed for several years. According to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marijampolė
Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Marijampolė is 48,700 (2003). It is the Lithuanian center of the Suvalkija region. Marijampolė is the seventh-largest city in Lithuania, and has been its regional center since 1994. The city covers an area equal to . The Šešupė River divides the city into two parts which are connected by six bridges. Names The city has also been known as Marijampolis, Mariampol, Starapole, Pašešupiai, Marjampol, Mariyampole, and Kapsukas (1955–1989). History The settlement was founded as a village called "Pašešupė", after the nearby river of Šešupė. As such the town was first mentioned in 1667. In the 18th century the village, at that time belonging to the Catholic Church, grew to become a market town and its name was changed to Starpol or "S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ukmergė
Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000. Etymology and variant names The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from the Vilkmergėlė River, which was initially called Vilkmergė and assumed a diminutive form after the growth of the settlement. It is commonly thought that the name may be translated as "she-wolf", from the combination of ''Vilkas'' (wolf) and ''Merga'' (maiden). More likely the second root of the dual-stemmed name is the verb ''merg-/merk-'' meaning "to submerge" or "to dip". According to local legend, Vilkmergė was a girl raised by wolves, who bridged the divide between animals and humans, in the same way as Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli. The folk etymology of "Ukmergė", by contrast, is "farm girl" (Lith. ''ūkis'' = farm). The original name has been adopted by the local soccer team, "Vilkmergė Ukmergė" as well as popular HBH Vilkmergė b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Šiauliai
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different languages: Samogitian ''Šiaulē'', Latvian ''Saule'' (historic) and ''Šauļi'' (modern), German (outdated) ''Schaulen'', Polish ''Szawle'', Russian Шавли (Shavli – historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai – modern), Yiddish שאַװל (Shavel). History The city was first mentioned in written sources as ''Soule'' in Livonian Order chronicles describing the Battle of Saule. Thus the city's founding date is now considered to be 22 September 1236, the same date when the battle took place, not far from Šiauliai. At first, it developed as a defence post against the raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the raids stopped and Šiauliai started to develop as an agricultural settlement. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aleksandras Lileikis
Aleksandras Lileikis (10 June 1907 – 26 September 2000) was the chief of the Lithuanian Security Police in Vilnius during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania and a perpetrator of the Holocaust in Lithuania. He signed documents handing at least 75 Jews in his control over to Ypatingasis būrys, a Lithuanian collaborationist death squad, and is suspected of responsibility in the murder of thousands of Lithuanian Jews. After the 1944 Soviet occupation of Lithuania, he fled to Germany as a displaced person. Refused permission to immigrate to the United States because of his Nazi past, he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1950s. In 1955, his second application for permission to immigrate was granted and he settled in Norwood, Massachusetts, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1976. Eli Rosenbaum, an investigator for the Office of Special Investigations, uncovered evidence of Lileikis' war crimes; proceedings for his denaturalization were opened in 1994 and concl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iron Wolf (organization)
Iron Wolf ( lt, Geležinis Vilkas) was a semi-official Lithuanian militarized organization active in 1928–1930 and led by Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras. Established at the end of 1927 by the ruling Lithuanian Nationalist Union to help suppress its opposition, it was inspired by the Blackshirts, an Italian Fascism, Italian fascist organization. The organization was secret; it was officially active as a sports union from May 1928. The organization spied on its political opponents, engaged in limited physical coercion, and launched propaganda initiatives. It had more than 4,000 members. When Voldemaras was removed as Prime Minister in September 1929, President Antanas Smetona attempted to install his men at the organization. When that tactic failed, the organization was officially closed on 24 May 1930. However, supporters of Voldemaras continued to be active and became known as ''Voldemarininkai'' ("Voldemarians", "Voldemarists"). They planned several anti-Smetona coups, be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 718,507 (as of 2020), while according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 753,875 permanent inhabitants as of November 2022 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined. Vilnius is situated in southeastern Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states, but according to the Bank of Latvia is expected to become the largest before 2025. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality. Vilnius is known for the architecture in its Old Town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The city was noted for its multicultural population already in the time of the Polish–Lithuanian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915. During the interwar period, it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania, when Vilnius was seized and controlled by Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Romanticism architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, the interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label. It contributed to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. Although the 1919 Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Weimar Republic from establishing an intelligence organization of their own, they formed an espionage group in 1920 within the Ministry of Defence, calling it the ''Abwehr''. The initial purpose of the ''Abwehr'' was defence against foreign espionage: an organizational role which later evolved considerably. Under General Kurt von Schleicher (prominent in running the ''Reichswehr'' from 1926 onwards) the individual military services' intelligence units were combined and, in 1929, centralized under Schleicher's ''Ministeramt'' within the Ministry of Defence, forming the foundation for the more commonly understood manifestation of the ''Abwehr''. Each ''Abwehr'' station throughout German ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Einsatzkommando 3
During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectuals, Romani, and communists in the captured territories often far behind the advancing German front.Thomas Urban, reporter of the Süddeutsche Zeitung; Polish text in Rzeczpospolita, Sept 1–2, 2001 ''Einsatzkommandos'', along with ''Sonderkommandos'', were responsible for the systematic murder of Jews during the aftermath of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the war, several commanders were tried in the Einsatzgruppen trial, convicted, and executed. Organization of the ''Einsatzgruppen'' ''Einsatzgruppen'' (german: special-ops units) were paramilitary groups originally formed in 1938 under the direction of Reinhard Heydrich – Chief of the SD, and ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (Security Police; SiPo). They were op ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wilhelm Fuchs
Oberführer and Oberst of Police Wilhelm Fuchs (1 September 1898, in Mannheim – 24 January 1947, in Belgrade) was a Nazi Einsatzkommando leader. From April 1941 to January 1942 he commanded Einsatzgruppe Serbia. From 15 September 1943 through 27 May 1944 he commanded Einsatzkommando 3. He was executed by hanging in Belgrade. Fuchs studied at the University of Leipzig Agricultural Science and received his doctorate in 1929, On 1 April 1932, he joined the NSDAP (member NR. 1,038,061). On 1 December 1932, he became SS (member NR. 62 760). On 11 July 1933, he was appointed Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. ... and, on 20 April 1938, promoted to Standartenführer. References Serbia under German occupation Einsatzgruppen personnel Holoca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |