Estonian Self-Administration , also known as the Directorate, was the puppet government set up in Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 during occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany

Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany

After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Army Group North reached Estonia in July.Initially the Germans were perceived by most Estonians as liberators from the USSR and its repressions, having arrived only a week after the first mass deportations from the Baltics...

. It was headed by Hjalmar Mäe

Hjalmar Mäe

Hjalmar-Johannes Mäe was an Estonian politician....

.

According to the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity (referred to as the Commission below)

Although the Directorate did not have complete freedom of action, it exercised a significant measure of autonomy, within the framework of German policy, political, racial and economic. For example, the Directors exercised their powers pursuant to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Estonia, but only to the extent that these had not been repealed or amended by the German military command.

The Commission also found that "The position of Director was voluntary; there is no
evidence that any of the leadership of the Directorate were subject to any form of coercion. <...> The Directorate’s autonomy, in particular,
enabled them to maintain police structures that
cooperated with the Germans in rounding up and
killing Estonian Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 and Roma, and in seeking out
and killing Estonians

Estonians

Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...

 deemed to be opponents of the
occupiers, and which were ultimately incorporated
into the Security Police

Security police

In some countries, including the United States, security police are those persons, employed by or for a governmental agency, who provide police and security services to those agencies' properties....

. It also extended to the
unlawful conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 of Estonians for forced labor
or for military service

Military service

Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...

 under German command."

Senior officials

• Hjalmar Mäe
  Hjalmar Mäe
  Hjalmar-Johannes Mäe was an Estonian politician....
  
  
• Oskar Angelus
• Alfred Wendt (or Alfred Vendt)
• Otto Leesment
• Hans Saar
• Oskar Öpik
• Arnold Raadik
• Johannes Soodla
  Johannes Soodla
  Johannes Soodla was an Estonian military officer during the World War I, Estonian War of Independence and World War II, serving in Kuperjanov's Partisan Battalion and the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS...
  
  

The Commission concluded that the senior officials of the Directorate, by the virtue of their position, share responsibility
with the German authorities for all criminal actions carried out in
Estonia, and beyond its borders by military units or
police battalions raised with their consent.