The 16th Rifle Division (russian: 16-я стрелковая Литовская Клайпедская Краснознамённая дивизия, translit=16-ya strelkovaya Litovskaya Klaypedskaya Krasnoznamonnaya diviziya; ; lt, 16-oji 'Lietuviškoji' divizija) was a formation in the
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, afte ...
created during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The division was formed twice, and was given the title '
Lithuanian' during its second formation. It was originally established at
Tambov
Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...
in May 1918. It was wiped out at
Mga in July 1941. Reformed and given the title 'Lithuanian', the division participated in several battles against
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, including
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, and the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
. The division became a brigade postwar but became a division again in 1950. It was disbanded in 1956.
First formation
The division was originally formed in 1918.
Operation Barbarossa
At the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
the 16th Rifle Division (I Formation) was part of
North-Western Front
The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-cr ...
's
27th Army, reporting directly to Army headquarters along with the 67th Rifle Division and 3rd Rifle Brigade. It was destroyed at
Mga amid the first German drive on Leningrad.
Second formation
Background
When the 16th Division was reformed after its destruction, it was named 'Lithuanian' for political purposes.
After
Lithuania, along with
Latvia and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, were
occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940, the
Lithuanian Army was reorganized into the
Lithuanian People's Army and soon the
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, afte ...
's
29th Rifle Corps
The 29th Rifle Corps ( lt, 29-asis teritorinis šaulių korpusas) was formed several times in Soviet Red Army, each formation primarily seeing combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. The first formation of the 29th Rifle Corps was known ...
. At the start of
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
in June 1941, Lithuanians massively deserted, killed non-Lithuanian commanders and joined the anti-Soviet
June Uprising.
Out of the 16,000 soldiers of the 29th Rifle Corps, only 2,000 retreated with the Red Army.
The Corps' remnants retreated to
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-П ...
by mid-July.
The corps was officially disbanded on 23 September 1941.
Despite this disaster, Lithuanian communists, including
Antanas Sniečkus
Antanas Sniečkus ( – 22 January 1974) was a Lithuanian communist politician who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 15 August 1940 to 22 January 1974.
Biography
Sniečkus was born in 1903, in the village o ...
and
Mečislovas Gedvilas
Mečislovas Gedvilas (19 October 1901 – 15 February 1981) was a Lithuanian Communist politician who collaborated with occupying Soviet forces. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Lithuanian SSR from 1940 to 1956. Rivalry between him and ...
, sought to establish a new Lithuanian unit. Similar national military units formed from the ethnicities of the other Baltic republics were the
8th Estonian Rifle Corps
The 8th Estonian Rifle Corps (2nd formation) (russian: 8-й Эстонский стрелковый корпус, et, 8. Eesti Laskurkorpus) was a formation in the Red Army, created on 6 November 1942, during World War II.
An 8th Rifle Corps ...
and the
130th Latvian Rifle Corps. In mid-1943, compared to the
7th and
149th Estonian (81% and 63% Estonian respectively) and
43rd Latvian Guards (38.8% Latvian) Rifle Divisions, the 'Lithuanian' division had the lowest percentage (36.5%) of the titular Baltic ethnicity. The purpose of the divisions was not only military but also political as their members were important for the planned post-war Sovietization of the occupied Baltic states.
Formation
The 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division was created on 18 December 1941.
The decision to form it was made by the
State Defense Committee, following requests by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Lithuania
The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
and the
LSSR's government.
It was decided that it would be formed in the
Moscow Military District
The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...
, in the city of
Balakhna
Balakhna (russian: Балахна́) is a town and the administrative center of Balakhninsky District in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volga River, north of Nizhny Novgorod, the administrative center of the obl ...
,
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,310,5 ...
.
Personnel came from remnants of the
184th Rifle Division
The 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division is a division of the Russian Ground Forces stationed in the Sakhalin Oblast with administration over the Kuril Islands. It is currently deployed to Eastern Ukraine.
First formation
It was first formed as ...
(former
29th Rifle Corps
The 29th Rifle Corps ( lt, 29-asis teritorinis šaulių korpusas) was formed several times in Soviet Red Army, each formation primarily seeing combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. The first formation of the 29th Rifle Corps was known ...
), the Lithuanians that were longtime inhabitants of Russia and any Lithuanian-speaking refugees that had fled Lithuania after the
German invasion German invasion may refer to:
Pre-1900s
* German invasion of Hungary (1063)
World War I
* German invasion of Belgium (1914)
* German invasion of Luxembourg (1914)
World War II
* Invasion of Poland
* German invasion of Belgium (1940)
* G ...
.
However, out of 23,000 refugees from Lithuania, 15,000 of them were Jewish.
Lithuanians born in Russia and Russians born in Lithuania were drafted into the division, because there was insufficient numbers of Lithuanians to form a division.
The officers were recruited from among the Vilnius Infantry Academy's graduates, who the Soviet government immediately evacuated following the beginning of the German invasion to
Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk ( rus, Новокузнецк, p=nəvəkʊzˈnʲɛt͡sk; literally: "new smith's", cjs, Аба-тура, ''Aba-tura'') is a city in Kemerovo Oblast (Kuzbass) in south-western Siberia, Russia. It is the second largest city in the obla ...
,
Kemerovo Oblast
Kemerovo Oblast — Kuzbass (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть — Кузба́сс, translit=Kemerovskaya oblast — Kuzbass, ), also known simply as Kemerovo Oblast (russian: Ке́меровская о́бласть, label=non ...
.
Throughout 1942, the division was being formed and trained, still located in the Moscow Military District.
In December 1942, the division was made part of the
Bryansk Front
The Bryansk Front (russian: Брянский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War.
First Formation (August - November 1941)
General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first f ...
.
Thereafter, it was part of the
Central Front.
1943
![16th Rifle Division of the Red Army participating in fighting in the Oryol Oblast in the summer of 1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/16th_Rifle_Division_of_the_Red_Army_participating_in_fighting_in_the_Oryol_Oblast_in_the_summer_of_1943.jpg)
Formation and training of the division came to an end by February 1943 and the division entered the war on 21 February 1943 at Alekseyevka, 50 km southeast of
Oryol. This brought the division into the path of the Wehrmacht's
Operation Citadel
Operation Citadel (german: Unternehmen Zitadelle) was a German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein during the Second World War on ...
. The division fought in the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...
, where it served with the
42nd Rifle Corps of the
48th Army, Soviet Central Front.
In the first days of the battle, the 16th Rifle Division withstood the attack of the German
383rd Infantry and
18th Panzer Division
The 18th Panzer Division (german: 18. Panzer-Division) was a German World War II armoured division that fought on the Eastern Front from 1941 until its disbandment in 1943.
Formation
The 18th Panzer Division was formed on 26 October 1940 at ...
s, that were accompanied by 120 planes. After suffering serious losses, the Soviet armies eventually emerged victorious. Between 20 February and 24 March 1943, the division lost 1,169 dead and 3,275 injured men. During this battle a private named Viktoras Jacenevičius, was wounded, taken prisoner and then tortured to death by the Germans. He was posthumously awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
.
After
Oryol was captured as part of
Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German '' He ...
, the division was removed from the Central Front in August–September 1943.
On September 28, the division was once more part of the army and was made part of the
Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of World War II, named for the city of Kalinin. It was formally established by Stavka directive on 17 October 1941 and allocated three armies: 22nd, 29th Army a ...
's
4th Shock Army
The 4th Shock Army was a combined arms army of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II.
The Army was formed from the 27th Army on 25 December 1941 (1st formation) within the Northwestern Front. On 1 October 1942 it included the 249th, ...
, which soon became the
1st Baltic Front
The First Baltic Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Прибалтийский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. It was commanded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenko, succeeded by Army General Bagramyan. I ...
.
1944
During
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
, the division was placed in the reserves.
Along with the
3rd Belorussian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War.
The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Fr ...
, the 1st Baltic Front invaded
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
and much of Lithuania. Later in June, the division was made part of the 4th Shock Army, but it was not deployed to heavy combat due to the division's political importance. However, in July, the division was assigned as part of the second Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.
On 2 August 1944, division had arrived at
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 la ...
's suburbs, which was home to their commander,
Vladas Karvelis Vladas is a Lithuanian given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Vladas Česiūnas
* Vladas Drėma
* Vladas Mikėnas
*Vladas Mironas
Vladas Mironas (22 June 1880 in Kuodiškiai, Kovno Governorate – 18 February 1953 in Vladimir) w ...
. The division was stationed there for one month, and reinforced with Lithuanian
forced conscripts.
In mid-August the city of Šiauliai was hit by the German
Šiauliai Offensive. The
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
divisions were armed with 900 armoured vehicles and
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
pieces. For three days the 16th Division stood its ground, and in the end as the German attack ran out of steam the Division emerged victorious. On 31 October the division was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...
for "courage and valor" in breaking through German defenses west of Šiauliai.
As the Red Army occupied Lithuania a second time, conscription into the Red Army began on Lithuanian territory in August 1944.
In total, 108,378 Lithuanians were conscripted in August 1944–April 1945.
Thus, the number of Lithuanians in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division increased from 32.2% on 1 July 1944 to 68.4% on 27 April 1945.
A part of the conscripted Lithuanians were made into the
50th Lithuanian Reserve Infantry Division The 50th "Lithuanian" Reserve Rifle Division ( lt, 50-oji lietuviškoji šaulių atsargos divizija) was a short-lived infantry division of the Red Army at the end of World War II. Formed from forcefully mobilized Lithuanians, Lithuanian men, the div ...
.
1945
On 31 January 1945, the Lithuanian division received orders to join the fight against the Germans in the
Courland Pocket
The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...
. The German resistance was strong and elements of
Army Group Courland
Army Group Courland (german: Heeresgruppe Kurland) was a German Army Group on the Eastern Front which was created from remnants of the Army Group North, isolated in the Courland Peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army forces during the 1944 Balt ...
did not surrender to the Soviets until 8–9 May at the
end of World War II in Europe.
The division was part of
22nd Guards Rifle Corps,
6th Guards Army
The 6th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Nazi Germany during World War II under the command of General Ivan Chistyakov. The Army's chief of staff was General Valentin Antonovich Penkovskii.
The 6th Guards Army was ...
towards the end of the war on 1 May 1945.
After the war, many former soldiers of the division's went to
Palestine.
Structure (World War II)
*156th Rifle Regiment (commander Colonel
V. Lunia)
*167th Rifle Regiment (commander Colonel
Vladas Motieka)
*249th Rifle Regiment (commander Lieutenant Colonel F.Lysenko)
*224th Artillery Regiment (commander Major
Povilas Simonaitis)
*Signal Battalion
*Field Engineer Battalion (commander Major
Petras Ciunis)
*Anti-tank Battalion
*Mortar Battalion
Ethnic composition
![Lithuanian SSR leadership in the 16th 'Lithuanian' Rifle Division, June 1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Lithuanian_SSR_leadership_in_the_16th_%27Lithuanian%27_Rifle_Division%2C_June_1943.jpg)
According to various sources, 50%, up to 80%
or even 85%
of the division was
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. Initially, about 45% to 50% of the division was Jewish, with the Jews making up the absolute majority in the infantry regiments.
Thus, the division was
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
d "The division with the sixteen Lithuanians"
or the "Jewish Division".
According to a veteran of the division, there was a policy of sending Jews to fight and keeping Lithuanians behind the front as the Soviet military wanted to preserve the Lithuanian character of the division. The Jewish author Miriam Weinstein wrote that 90% of the division's casualties were Jews.
By the time the division reached Lithuania, the division was only about 20% Jewish.
As of 1 January 1943, of the 10,250 soldiers and officers of the division, 7,000 of them were
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
Lithuanians and/or inhabitants of the Lithuanian SSR. The total ethnic make-up of the division was:
* 3720
Lithuanians (36.3%),
* 3064
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(29%),
* 2973
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
(29%),
* 492 of other nationalities (4.8%).
Although other sources cite figures of 2378 Jews (23.2%) in the division, it is still the highest number of ethnic Jews amongst all divisions of the Red Army. Jews made 13% (136 persons) of all officers in the division and 34.2% of all soldiers in the infantry regiments. 12 soldiers of a division have been awarded the title,
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
, of them, four were Jews:
*
major Volf Vilensky ()
*
sergeant Kalman Shur ()
*
corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
Grigorijus Ušpolis ()
* and
private Borisas Cindelis (, posthumously).
The division's official language, commands and orders were in Russian.
Yiddish was sometimes used in
drill commands
Drill commands are generally used with a group that is marching, most often in military foot drills or in a marching band. Drill commands are usually heard in major events involving service personnel, reservists and veterans of a country's arm ...
and less formal orders.
Cold War
Following World War II, the division was made part of the
Steppe Military District
The Steppe Military District () was a military district of the Soviet Union, formed twice. It was first formed in April 1943 during World War II near Voronezh as a strategic reserve, and after the beginning of the Battle of Kursk in July it became ...
's
92nd Rifle Corps
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Arabic digit
In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
.
In 1947, it became the 44th Rifle Brigade at Vilnius, now with the
2nd Guards Rifle Corps. In December 1950, it became a division again. It was disbanded on 7 July 1956.
Commanders
See also
*
List of Soviet divisions 1917–45
*
Liudas Gira - Lithuanian poet that served in the division from 1942 to 1944.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
Additional references
*
Они освобождали родную Прибалтику*
* [http://www.russian-bazaar.com/ru/content/1099.htm Национальные формирования в Красной Армии и в Вермахте (National units in the Red Army and the Wehrmacht)], ''Russian Bazaar''
{{Authority control
Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union in World War II, 016
Jewish military history
Military history of Lithuania during World War II
Military units and formations established in 1918
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner