Occupation of the Baltic republics by Nazi Germany
Encyclopedia
The occupation of the Baltic republics by Nazi Germany occurred during Operation Barbarossa
from 1941 to 1944. Initially, many Estonians
, Latvians
, and Lithuanians
considered the Germans
as liberators from the Soviet Union. The Balts hoped for the restoration of independence, but instead the Germans established a provisional government
. During the occupation the Germans carried out discrimination
, mass deportations and mass killings generating Baltic resistance movement
s.
in the 1939 German–Soviet Pact. The Germans lacked concern for the fate of the Baltic states and they initiated the evacuation of the Baltic Germans. Between October and December 1939 the Germans evacuted 13,700 people from Estonia and 52,583 from Latvia, who were resettled in Polish territories incorporated into the Nazi Germany. The Germans continued their interest in the Baltic states and negotiated secret trade agreements with them in 1940. The following autumn, the Soviets annexed all three states
. On 22 June 1941 the Germans carried out Operation Barbarossa. The Soviets had executed sovietization
earlier, with the result that the majority of Balts welcomed the German armed forces when they crossed the frontiers of Lithuania.
In Lithuania, a revolt broke out on the first day of the war, and a provisional government was established. As the German armies approached Riga
and Tallinn
, attempts to reestablish national governments were made. It was hoped that the Germans would reestablish Baltic independence. Such political hopes soon evaporated and Baltic cooperation became less forthright or ceased altogether. A growing proportion of the local populations turned against the Nazi regime as Germany turned the Baltic states—except for the Memel (Klaipėda) region annexed into Greater Germany
in 1939—and most of Belarus
into the Reichskommissariat Ostland
, a colony
in all but name in which the four predominant nationalities had little role in governance. Hinrich Lohse
, a German Nazi politician, was Reichskommissar until fleeing in the face of the Red Army
's advance in 1944.
German policy in the area was harsh, beginning with the pre-Holocaust mass executions carried out by advancing Einsatzgruppen
against the Jewish population. The remainder of the Baltic peoples were deemed by the Nazis to be "a dying race" that needed to be "replaced by a more dynamic people", meaning Germans
. The main Nazi plan for the colonization
of conquered territories in the east, referred to as Generalplan Ost
, called for the wholesale deportation of some two thirds of the native population from the territories of the Baltic states in the event of a German victory. The remaining third were either to be exterminated in situ, used as slave labour, or Germanized if deemed sufficiently "Aryan
", while hundreds of thousands of German settlers were to be moved into the conquered territories. As Adolf Hitler
explained in a conference on 16 July 1941, the Baltic states were to be annexed
to Germany at the earliest possible moment, and some Nazi ideologists suggested renaming the states of Estonia to Peipusland
and Latvia to Dünaland when they would be integrated as German provinces. During the course of the war, the main thrust of Nazi racial policies
was directed against the Jews, not so much the majority Baltic peoples.
Towards the end of the war, once it became clear that Germany would be defeated, many Balts
and Estonians joined the Germans once again. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war the Baltic countries would be able to attract Western support for the cause of independence from the USSR. In Latvia an underground nationalist Central Council of Latvia was formed on August 13, 1943. An analogous body, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania
, emerged on November 25, 1943. On March 23, 1944, the underground National Committee of the Estonian Republic was founded.
reached Estonia
in July.
Although initially the Germans were perceived as liberators from the USSR and its repressions by most Estonians who hoped for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were merely another occupying power. Germans pillaged the country for the war effort and unleashed the Holocaust. Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland
. That made many Estonians not willing to side with the Nazis join the Finnish army to fight against the Soviet Union. The Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
(soomepoisid – 'Boys of Finland') was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. 70,000 Estonians were recruited to the German armed forces (including Waffen-SS). Most of them joined in 1944, when the threat of a new invasion of Estonia by the Red Army had become imminent and it was clear that Germany would not win the war.
By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Red Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Narva
was evacuated. Jüri Uluots
, the last legitimate Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the constitution of Estonia) prior to its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, delivered as a private citizen a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across the country: 38,000 Volunteers jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war Estonia would be able to attract Western support for the cause of Estonia's independence from the USSR and thus ultimately succeed in achieving independence.
had occupied all of Latvia
's territory. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany
's Reichskommissariat Ostland
as the Province General of Latvia (Generalbezirk Lettland). Anyone who was disobedient to the German occupation regime as well as those who had co-operated with the Soviet regime were killed or sent to concentration camps.
Immediately after the installation of German authority (the beginning of July 1941) a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula
. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, the Wehrmacht
and Marines (in Liepāja
), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500-1,500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and the 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD
. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed.
Latvia's population perished not only on the battlefield. During the years of Nazi occupation special campaigns exterminated 18,000 Latvians, approximately 70,000 Jews and 2,000 Gypsies – in total about 90,000 people. In the case of Latvians these were mostly civilians whose political convictions were unacceptable to the German occupation force. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of the inhuman Nazi "theory of races". Persecutions were mostly carried out by special German units (Einsatzgruppe A, Sicherheitsdienst
, or SD) and police units. The German occupation regime attempted to involve the local population in war crimes. Thus, Latvian self-defence units, security police units, and SD auxiliary units were created and included volunteers who carried out part of the terror campaign.
In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvian volunteers to fight against the Red Army
.
A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The Latvian resistance movement
was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
and the Soviet partisan units under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
.
The occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany refers to the period from the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union to the end of the Battle of Memel
(June 22, 1941 to January 28, 1945). At first the Germans were welcomed as "liberators" from the repressive Soviet regime. In hopes to re-establish independence or at least gain autonomy, Lithuanians organized their Provisional Government
. But soon Lithuanian attitude changed into passive resistance as the Nazis considered Lithuanians one of the inferior races and exploited them for the military and economic benefit of the Third Reich.
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
from 1941 to 1944. Initially, many 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...
, Latvians
Latvians
Latvians or Letts are the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia.-History:Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...
, and Lithuanians
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
considered the Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
as liberators from the Soviet Union. The Balts hoped for the restoration of independence, but instead the Germans established a provisional government
Provisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
. During the occupation the Germans carried out discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, mass deportations and mass killings generating Baltic resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
s.
Under German rule
The Germans had given the Baltic states under the Soviet sphere of influenceSphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
in the 1939 German–Soviet Pact. The Germans lacked concern for the fate of the Baltic states and they initiated the evacuation of the Baltic Germans. Between October and December 1939 the Germans evacuted 13,700 people from Estonia and 52,583 from Latvia, who were resettled in Polish territories incorporated into the Nazi Germany. The Germans continued their interest in the Baltic states and negotiated secret trade agreements with them in 1940. The following autumn, the Soviets annexed all three states
Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (1940)
The occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union covers the period from the Soviet–Baltic mutual assistance pacts in 1939, to the illegal annexation in 1940, to the mass deportations of 1941...
. On 22 June 1941 the Germans carried out Operation Barbarossa. The Soviets had executed sovietization
Sovietization of the Baltic states
The Sovietization of the Baltic states refers to the sovietization of all spheres of life in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania when they were under control of the Soviet Union.-Immediate post occupation:...
earlier, with the result that the majority of Balts welcomed the German armed forces when they crossed the frontiers of Lithuania.
In Lithuania, a revolt broke out on the first day of the war, and a provisional government was established. As the German armies approached Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
and Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, attempts to reestablish national governments were made. It was hoped that the Germans would reestablish Baltic independence. Such political hopes soon evaporated and Baltic cooperation became less forthright or ceased altogether. A growing proportion of the local populations turned against the Nazi regime as Germany turned the Baltic states—except for the Memel (Klaipėda) region annexed into Greater Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1939—and most of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
into the Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
, a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
in all but name in which the four predominant nationalities had little role in governance. Hinrich Lohse
Hinrich Lohse
Hinrich Lohse was a Nazi German politician, best known for his World War II rule of the Baltic states.-Early life:...
, a German Nazi politician, was Reichskommissar until fleeing in the face of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's advance in 1944.
German policy in the area was harsh, beginning with the pre-Holocaust mass executions carried out by advancing Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
against the Jewish population. The remainder of the Baltic peoples were deemed by the Nazis to be "a dying race" that needed to be "replaced by a more dynamic people", meaning Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
. The main Nazi plan for the colonization
Settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is a specific colonial formation whereby foreign family units move into a region and reproduce. Land is thus the key resource in settler colonies, whereas natural and human resources are the main motivation behind other forms of colonialism...
of conquered territories in the east, referred to as Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
, called for the wholesale deportation of some two thirds of the native population from the territories of the Baltic states in the event of a German victory. The remaining third were either to be exterminated in situ, used as slave labour, or Germanized if deemed sufficiently "Aryan
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
", while hundreds of thousands of German settlers were to be moved into the conquered territories. As Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
explained in a conference on 16 July 1941, the Baltic states were to be annexed
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
to Germany at the earliest possible moment, and some Nazi ideologists suggested renaming the states of Estonia to Peipusland
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus, ) is the biggest transboundary lake in Europe on the border between Estonia and Russia.The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St...
and Latvia to Dünaland when they would be integrated as German provinces. During the course of the war, the main thrust of Nazi racial policies
Racial policy of Nazi Germany
The racial policy of Nazi Germany was a set of policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the "Aryan race", and based on a specific racist doctrine which claimed scientific legitimacy...
was directed against the Jews, not so much the majority Baltic peoples.
Towards the end of the war, once it became clear that Germany would be defeated, many Balts
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
and Estonians joined the Germans once again. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war the Baltic countries would be able to attract Western support for the cause of independence from the USSR. In Latvia an underground nationalist Central Council of Latvia was formed on August 13, 1943. An analogous body, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania
Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania
The Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania or VLIK was an organization seeking independence of Lithuania. It was established on October 25, 1943 during the Nazi occupation. After World War II it moved abroad and continued its operations in Germany and the United States...
, emerged on November 25, 1943. On March 23, 1944, the underground National Committee of the Estonian Republic was founded.
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
reached 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...
in July.
Although initially the Germans were perceived as liberators from the USSR and its repressions by most Estonians who hoped for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were merely another occupying power. Germans pillaged the country for the war effort and unleashed the Holocaust. Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
. That made many Estonians not willing to side with the Nazis join the Finnish army to fight against the Soviet Union. The Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
Infantry Regiment 200 or Soomepoisid was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of the armed forces of Germany....
(soomepoisid – 'Boys of Finland') was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. 70,000 Estonians were recruited to the German armed forces (including Waffen-SS). Most of them joined in 1944, when the threat of a new invasion of Estonia by the Red Army had become imminent and it was clear that Germany would not win the war.
By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Red Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
was evacuated. Jüri Uluots
Jüri Uluots
Jüri Uluots was an Estonian prime minister, journalist, prominent attorney and distinguished Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu....
, the last legitimate Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the constitution of Estonia) prior to its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, delivered as a private citizen a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across the country: 38,000 Volunteers jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war Estonia would be able to attract Western support for the cause of Estonia's independence from the USSR and thus ultimately succeed in achieving independence.
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
By July 10, 1941, the German armed forcesWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
had occupied all of Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
's territory. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
as the Province General of Latvia (Generalbezirk Lettland). Anyone who was disobedient to the German occupation regime as well as those who had co-operated with the Soviet regime were killed or sent to concentration camps.
Immediately after the installation of German authority (the beginning of July 1941) a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula
Rumbula
Rumbula is a pine forest enclave in Riga, Latvia, in which Jews were massacred during the Holocaust. For the air base at Rumbula, see Rumbula ....
. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and Marines (in Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500-1,500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando
Arajs Commando
The Arajs Kommando , led by SS-Sturmbannführer Viktors Arājs, was a unit of Latvian Auxiliary Police subordinated to the Nazi SD...
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and the 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed.
Latvia's population perished not only on the battlefield. During the years of Nazi occupation special campaigns exterminated 18,000 Latvians, approximately 70,000 Jews and 2,000 Gypsies – in total about 90,000 people. In the case of Latvians these were mostly civilians whose political convictions were unacceptable to the German occupation force. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of the inhuman Nazi "theory of races". Persecutions were mostly carried out by special German units (Einsatzgruppe A, Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
, or SD) and police units. The German occupation regime attempted to involve the local population in war crimes. Thus, Latvian self-defence units, security police units, and SD auxiliary units were created and included volunteers who carried out part of the terror campaign.
In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvian volunteers to fight against the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The Latvian resistance movement
Latvian resistance movement
A large number of Latvians resisted the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany. The Latvian resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council and the pro-Soviet units under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow...
was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
Latvian Central Council
The Latvian Central Council was the pro-independence Latvian resistance movement during World War II in 1943-1945. Its military units were an alternative to the Soviet partisans also operating in Latvia....
and the Soviet partisan units under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis was a Latvian colonel and commander of the Soviet partisans during the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany in World War II.-Early life and career:...
.
Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany
Battle of Memel
The Battle of Memel or the Siege of Memel took place when the Soviets launched their Memel Offensive Operation in late 1944. The offensive led to a three-month siege against German forces in a small bridgehead in the town and its port....
(June 22, 1941 to January 28, 1945). At first the Germans were welcomed as "liberators" from the repressive Soviet regime. In hopes to re-establish independence or at least gain autonomy, Lithuanians organized their Provisional Government
Provisional Government of Lithuania
The Provisional Government of Lithuania was a temporary government aiming for independent Lithuania during the last days of the Soviet occupation and the first weeks of German Nazi occupation in 1941. It was secretly formed on 22 April, 1941, announced on 23 June, 1941, and dissolved on 5 August,...
. But soon Lithuanian attitude changed into passive resistance as the Nazis considered Lithuanians one of the inferior races and exploited them for the military and economic benefit of the Third Reich.