Bruger:PerV/sandkasse1

Om litauisk deltagelse i holocaust

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Einsatz_Baltic.html

Extracts from a Report by Einsatzgruppe a in the Baltic Countries (October 15, 1941)

Encouragement of Self-cleansing Aktionen (Selbstreinigungs-aktionen)*

Basing [oneself] on the consideration that the population of the Baltic countries had suffered most severely under the rule of Bolshevism and Jewry while they were incorporated into the U.S.S.R., it was to be expected that after liberation from this foreign rule they would themselves to a large extent eliminate those of the enemy left behind after the retreat of the Red Army. It was the task of the Security Police to set these self-cleansing movements going and to direct them into the right channels in order to achieve the aim of this cleansing as rapidly as possible. It was no less important to establish as unshakable and provable facts for the future that it was the liberated population itself which took the most severe measures, on its own initiative, against the Bolshevik and Jewish enemy, without any German instructions being evident.

In Lithuania this was achieved for the first time by activating “the partisans” (a nationalist organization in Lithuania that rose against Soviet rule on the day the Germans moved in) in Kaunas. To our surprise it was not easy at first to set any large-scale anti-Jewish pogrom in motion there. Klimatis, the leader of the partisan group referred to above, who was the first to be recruited for this purpose, succeeded in starting a pogrom with the aid of instructions given him by a small advance detachment operating in Kaunas, in such a way that no German orders or instructions could be observed by outsiders. In the course of the first pogrom during the night of June 25/26, the Lithuanian partisans eliminated more than 1.500 Jews, set fire to several synagogues or destroyed them by other means, and burned down an area consisting of about sixty houses inhabited by Jews. During the nights that followed, 2.300 Jews were eliminated in the same way. In other parts of Lithuania similar Aktionen followed the example set in Koaunas, but on a smaller scale, and including some Communists who had been left behind.

These self-cleansing Aktionen ran smoothly because the Wehrmacht authorities who had been informed showed understanding for this procedure. At the same time it was obvious from the beginning that only the first days after the Occupation would offer the opportunity for carrying out pogroms. After the disarmament of the “partisans” the self-cleansing Aktionen necessarily ceased.

Ref: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Einsatz_Baltic.html

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941; Kaunas was occupied on June 24. Even before the Germans entered the city, antisemitic Lithuanians went on wild killing sprees directed against the Jews.

Ref: http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206458.pdf

Kaunas ghetto og General Jewish Fighting Organization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaunas_Ghetto

Kolaboratører http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lithuania#Authoritarian_Lithuania

Relations between German forces and Lithuanian people

There was substantial cooperation and collaboration between the German forces and some Lithuanians. The Lithuanian Activist Front group formed five police companies to restore order in the country. Later, the units around Kaunas were incorporated into the Tautos Darbo Apsauga (National Labour Guard) and in Vilnius the Lietuvos Savisaugos Dalys (Lithuanian Self Defence). These were then joined into the Policiniai Batalionai (Lithuanian Police Battalions) called by the Germans the Schutzmannschaft, with a total of 8,388 men by August, 1942. Another infamous unit was the Lithuanian Security Police (Saugumo policija).

Despite the fact that the purpose of their creation was different, these Lithuanian units participated in the Jewish Shoah, especially within Lithuania and the areas of the Vilnius region that are now in Belarus. It is alleged that in October and November 1941 Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft Battalion 2 participated in the killing of 19,000 Jews,[8] that in 1942 the Schutzmannschaft 7th company was involved in the murder of 9,200 Jews, and that the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft Battalion 254E killed at least 1,800 Jews in the course of a single action in 1943.[9]

An SS division was not established in Lithuania but other military units with about 30,000 Lithuanian inductees were created.[10] Eventually, the Lithuanian general Povilas Plechavičius, who commanded the collaborationist forces, dismissed his soldiers upon finding out that the Nazi regime was planning to mould them into a division of the Nazi elite corps.

There was also resistance to the German occupation, and some Lithuanians risked their own lives to save Jews. 504 Lithuanians are recognized as Righteous among the Nations for their efforts.

Resistance Main article: Local Self-Defence in Lithuania during the Nazi German occupation (1941–1944)

The migration of thousands of German settlers into territories formerly belonging to Lithuanian farmers, along with the dismissal and suppression of the independent Lithuanian government, soon produced a vigorous resistance movement. The resistance movement was not however united — the majority fought for an independent Lithuania; but another group of pro-Soviet partisans, which mainly consisted of Russians, Belarusians and Jews, operated in eastern Lithuania. This group fought for the re-incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union. Soviet partisans committed a number of atrocities (for example, the Koniuchy massacre) and sacked towns and villages.[7]

The Polish Armia Krajowa (AK) also operated on Lithuanian territory, expecting post-war Poland to resume control of the Vilnius/Wilno region. AK was fighting not only against the Nazis, but also against the pro-Nazi Lithuanian police, Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, and the Soviet partisans. Relationships between different guerilla detachments was never cordial and worsened as the war went on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koniuchy_massacre

According to the Investigation Reports on Koniuchy and Naliboki, issued by the Institute of National Memory on March 1, 2002, in Koniuchy between 36 and 50 inhabitants, men, women, and children, were killed on the spot, many others were wounded. The survivors escaped to nearby villages.

http://www.naszawitryna.pl/jedwabne_en_127.html

http://thepartizans.org/eng/History.asp?id=68&cat=history

Lithuania http://thepartizans.org/eng/History.asp?id=68&cat=history The partisan movement in Lithuania developed much later than in Belorussia, and its activities were connected geographically and dependent organizationally, to some extent, on the partisan movement in Belorussia. The relative delay in the development of the partisan movement in Lithuania stemmed from the hostility that most Lithuanians felt towards the USSR, and from the relative distance of Lithuania from the front in the early years of the war in the east. The western region of Belorussia was a suitable area for temporary bases for Soviet armed groups, which had infiltrated from the front in order to strengthen the activities of the Lithuanian partisans. Until the middle of 1943, the forests of Belorussia were the only refuge for Jews from eastern Lithuania who had fled from the ghettos and labor camps. Hundreds of Jews reached the Nacha Forests (about 80 km. south of Vilna) and to the lakes and swamps for the Kazhan and Naroch area (about 150 km. east of Vilna). A call to the Jews to rise up against the Nazis in the ghettos came from Lithuania, in a manifesto of revolt written by Abba Kovner in the Vilna ghetto during the night between December 31, 1941 and January 1, 1942. Within 3 weeks the United Partisan Organization (P.P.O.) was established. Already at the end of 1941, the first Jews from Lithuanian towns reached the Nacha Forests, singly and in small groups, and they were joined by refugees from the Vilna ghetto. Some were organized into family groups; others joined the Leniniski Comsomolita Partisan Battalion. Jewish youth who fled to the Naroch Forests were concentrated in the Voroshilobelorussia Battalion of the Brigade, under the command of Fyodor Markov. In the spring of 1943, ten youths who had fled from the Svencionys ghetto arrived at the Chapayebelorussia Battalion of this Brigade. Several of them were sent back to the ghetto to bring out more Jews. In August 1943, a group of P.P.O. fighters from the Vilna underground reached the Naroch Forest under the command of Joseph Glazman, and the Jewish Battalion Nekama was formed with 200 fighters. The paratrooper Butenas (formerly called Zerach Ragovsky) was appointed commander and Glazman became battalion Chief of Staff. About two months after its formation, it was split up, on orders from the Soviet command, and some of the fighters were transferred to the Konsomolksi Battalion. Many of this battalion’s fighters were killed during the German siege of the area in November 1943. When the siege ended, many of the Jewish fighters of the Voroshilov Brigade were abandoned by the command, apparently with the knowledge of the commander Markov. A turn for the better occurred at the beginning of 1944. A large number of the Jewish survivors, including those without weapons, were accepted into the partisan battalions. Many of these Jews were Lithuanians. Altogether there were approximately 450 Jewish Lithuanian fighters in the ranks of the partisans in Belorussia. The Soviet partisan headquarters parachuted a group of political and military leaders into German-occupied territory in order to intensify partisan activity. On March 7, 1942, a group of about 20 people was parachuted into northern Lithuania. Among them were Jews, led by the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party, Itzik Meskup, nicknamed Adomas. After a short while the group was discovered and all the members were killed. A similar fate befell many of the other parachuted groups. In the summer of 1943, a group of 40 people landed at an improvised landing-strip in Belorussia, bringing about a turning point in the history of the Lithuanian partisan movement. Leading the group were two senior members of the Communist Party, Shummuskas (Kazimir), and Genrik Ziman (Yurgis), a Jewish teacher from Kovno. Shumuskas set himself up, with some of the men, in the Naroch Forest, near the Lithuanian Zhalgiris Brigade, and from there he commanded the partisan and political activity in northern Lithuania. Ziman, with some of the men, arrived in October 1943 on Lithuanian territory and set up a base in the Rudniki Forest. His area of command included southern Lithuania, including Vilna and Kovno, where there were still approximately 20,000 Jews. At that time there were tens of Jewish partisans already operating in the Rudniki Forests in the “For the Homeland” Battalion of the Troky Brigade. Later, when the battalions “Free Lithuania” and “The Liberator” were established in the same brigade, the Jews who fled from the Kushiador and Palemon labor camps in the Kovno area, were accepted into these battalions. The total number of Jews in the Troky Brigade was 100 out of the 600 fighters. The largest concentration of Jewish fighters in Lithuania formed the Vilna Brigade in the Rudniki Forests. The Pushtzia of Rudniki spread over about 40 km. south of Vilna, over an area of around 2,500 km. The main highway from Vilna to Grodzny and Bialystok lay across the forests. The local inhabitants were Lithuanians and Poles. Partisan activities in the Rudniki Forests began in the summer of 1943, when a group of Soviet paratroopers, under the command of Captain Alko, set up a base there, and at the beginning of September the first Lithuanian-Soviet partisans arrived there from the Naroch Forests. That same month, the first Jewish partisans, 70 men and women members of the “Struggle Organization of Yehielita”, who left the Vilna ghetto a few days after the Aktion of September 1, 1943, arrived in the Rudniki Forests. Not all of them were armed. Their leaders were Elhanan Magid, Shlomo Brand and Natan Ring. They tried to join Alko’s partisans as a group, but the partisans were prepared to accept only 20 armed men. At the end of September and beginning of October, two groups of the P.P.O. arrived at Rudniki, comprising 70-80 members, under the auspices of Abba Kovner and Chiyena Borovske. They joined the men of the “Struggle Organization of Yehielita” and together they numbered 150 people. The Jewish partisans accepted the authority of the Soviet-Lithuanian partisan movement. Liaisons were sent to labor camps in Vilna to bring back more Jews, and by the end of October there were 250 men at the base. They sabotaged roads, bridges, electric and telephone poles. Jewish partisans infiltrated into Vilna and sabotaged the electrical and water systems of the city. Some of their operations were for the procurement of arms and food. The Jews of Vilna set up four battalions comprised of 400 fighters: HaNokem Battalion, commanded by Abba Kovner and his commissar Issar Schmidt; For Victory Battalion, commanded by Shmuel Kaplinski and his commissar Chiyena Borovske; Death to Fascism Battalion, commanded by Yankel Prener and his commissar Berl Shershnevsky; Struggle Battalion, commanded by Aharon Aharonovitz and his commissar Berl Shershnevsky. In the Death to Fascism Battalion and the Struggle Battalion, Jews from towns near Vilna were also included. At the beginning of 1944, non-Jewish fighters joined these battalions. The Jewish character of the battalions was undermined and most of the officers were changed. The official reason given was that the Soviet partisan movement was built according to republics, and since there was no Jewish republic, there was no justification for Jewish battalions. However, the Jews continued to be an absolute majority of all fighters in these battalions. In November 1943, groups of fighters from the Organization of the General Jewish Fighter began to reach the Rudniki Forest from the Kovno ghetto. Until May 1944, there were about 200 men, mostly in three battalions of the Kovno Brigade: Death to the Occupier, Kadima and Vlodas Baronas. About 50 of them fell in battle. Most of their leaders were Soviet officers who had escaped from German captivity. About ten Jews were appointed as deputy commanders, mainly as section commanders. In the spring of 1944, Polish partisans appeared in the Rudniki Forests, men of the Krajova Army. They tried to drive out the Soviet partisans, and in the battles which ensued between the Polish and Soviet partisans, Jewish partisans were also killed. Anti-Semitic elements, seeing the Jews as pro-Soviet, murdered tens of Jews who had been hidden by local villagers. Tens of Jewish fighters were in Lithuanian partisan units in central Lithuania, in the Kazlu-Ruda Forests and in Kadyan. Jewish individuals fought in other partisan units, such as the Kastotis Battalion in western Lithuania. There were approximately 250 more Jews in groups, including in armed family groups in family camps in the forests. In spring 1944, when shipments of parachuted weapons arrived, partisan activity increased, and at the beginning of July, the Red Army reached the Rudniki area, and the partisans participated in the liberation of Vilna on July 13, 1944. In the Lithuanian partisan movement there were approximately 850 Jews – about 10% of all the fighters, with 450 Jewish fighters from Lithuania within the framework of the Belorussian partisans, and 350 fighters in other territorial frameworks. The number of Lithuanian fighting Jews was 1,650. More than half fought in the framework of 22 battalions (out of the 92 battalions in the Lithuanian partisan movement) whose achievements in battle were the greatest. To their credit, they derailed 461 out of a total of 577 trains derailed (79%); 288 out of a total of 400 locomotives destroyed (72%); 3,663 out of a total of 16,000 enemy Nazis wounded (23%), and more. HaNokem Battalion alone is credited with derailing 5 enemy trains, the demolition of 3 km. of railway line ramps, the blowing-up of railway track in 350 places, the destruction of 5 bridges and 3 electric power stations, and the disruption of 3 km. of telephone and telegraph lines. 250 Jewish fighters fell in battle, and many fighters were cited for distinction in battle. In spite of this, there still remained manifestations of discrimination against Jewish fighters in several of the mixed partisan units. The partisan movement was, in fact, the only fighting framework against the Nazi regime open to Jews; but joining was limited for political and military reasons as well as by prejudice

The Purpose and Formation of the F.P.O. (The United Partisan Organization)

by Chana Shafran: A Partisan in the Naroch Forests

The F.P.O. tried to give a social-nationalist answer to the Jewish youth of the ghetto, who were without hope, and to organize a united and armed force in order to fight and incapacitate the enemy. In the event of an attempt to liquidate the ghetto, the organization was charged with the task of arousing the Jews to fight and defend themselves. This was the best objective that the Jewish youth could set themselves, under the prevailing conditions in the ghetto. Possible ways of escape included finding hiding places, passing for "Aryans', and joining the partisans. The easiest thing for the members of the organization to have done would have been to leave for the forests, armed and organized. However, this would have meant leaving hundreds of Jews in the ghetto, which was unthinkable, and which they considered criminal. When the danger of the liquidation of the ghetto increased, some of the youth turned to the partisans. This was the only unit organized to fight, to seek revenge and even, perhaps, to survive. The organization of partisan fighting in Belorussia was limited and slow, with the consolidation of underground groups of members of the Communist Party, the Komsomol, officials of the former Soviet government, who did not manage to retreat to the rear and were forced to hide. In July 1941, groups of activists of the Central Committee of the Communist Party were sent behind enemy lines, among them Fyodor Markovitz – later to become commander of the Markov Brigade. Markovitz was a school-teacher in the town of Svintsyan, until the outbreak of the war. During the Soviet regime, he was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Belarussia. With the outbreak of war and the retreat of the Red Army he too was evacuated to the Soviet rear, and was sent to a special school for partisan commanders, near Krainesk. In August 1941, he was sent back to Belorussia to organize a partisan movement. In Eastern Belorussia the partisan consolidation was rapid. Markov’s battalion was designated the Voroshilov Brigade. From November 1942 on, for one year, this was the only brigade in the district. The first Jewish partisans to join the Markov Brigade were youth from the neighboring towns, among them Markovitz’s former pupils from Svintsyan, who convinced him to send them to the Vilna Ghetto. And so, on December 6,1943, Jewish partisans of the Markov Brigade rescued a group of Jews from the Ghetto and brought them to the Naroch Forests – the base of the Brigade. Bibliography: 1. Kovner Abba, "Igeret Lashomrim Hapartizanim", pp.35-43. 2. Snir-Nashmit Sarah, "Prakim Betoldot Halehima shel Hapartizanim Beyaarot Naroch", Introduction pp.15-17.

Lithuanian Jewish Partisan Units which left their mark on the historiography of the Shoah and the Resistance By: Baruch Shub Based on the material “Lithuanian Jewry – The Litvaks”

The Shoah was witness to thousands of instances of the rebellion of individuals and of groups. Unfortunately, most of them are buried forever, together with their heroes. The following are a few of the events which I have selected from books dealing with the Shoah. I sincerely apologinze to those whose exploits I have not mentioned

Oshmyan There was an underground organization in Oshmyan. Liza Magun, from the F.P.O., came to warn them of an impending Aktion. Organized groups left for the forest and on the night of the Aktion, a group of 50 people left. Ivye On the day the ghetto was destroyed, approximately 200 Jews left for the Naliboki Forest, where they joined the Bielski Unit, Iskra. Dr. Atlas Dr. Atlas organized a company of 120 men who fled from Derchin to the Lipitshan Forest. They joined the Bulat Battalion. Bielski The Bielski brothers Tuvia, Asahel and Zosia set up a partisan-family unit in the Naliboki Forest. It numbered about 1,200 men, women, the elderly and children. Globoki This was a Ghetto which held about 7,000 Jews. On the day the Ghetto was liquidated, August 20, 1943, the Jews defended themselves with firearms.. The Ghetto was set on fire and the Jews broke out. The massacre of the Jews of Naliboki lasted many days. Vilna In 1941 the first manifesto calling the Lithuanian Jews to rebel was distributed in Vilna. The F.P.O., an Underground movement, was formed. When the Ghetto was liquidated, the rebels managed to get out through the sewers and made their way to the forests. Zorin Shalom Zorin was from Minsk. At the end of 1941 he escaped to the Troya-Silo Forests, about 30 km. south-east of Pinsk. Zorin established a partisan battalion, and later, a Jewish battalion, in part of the civilian camp “Unit 106”, in which there were 800 people. Zhitel About 600 Jews broke out of the Zhitel Ghetto during the Aktion which took place on August 6-8, 1942. They were among the founders of “Atlas”, Bielski Unit and other units. The Jews of Zhitel excelled as partisans. Lakhva The revolt in Lakhav was one of the more important ones which occurred against the Nazis. A well-organized Underground operated in the Ghetto. On September 3, 1942 the Ghetto gate was breached. Approximately 1,000 people escaped, of whom 600 reached the Ritzin swamps, on the Pripet River (Polesie). Lida About 500 Jews escaped from Lida to the forests. 300 of them reached partisan units. Minsk An organized Underground succeeded in bringing thousands of Jews to the surrounding forests. Especially noteworthy were the Jewish children of Minsk, who became excellent guides and brought the fleeing Jews to the partisan bases. Mir Oswald Rufeisen posed as a local police Deputy Commander, warned the Jews and supplied them with arms. 180 people escaped to the Bielski unit. Novogrodek Many groups escaped from Novogrodek, especially after the strengthening of the connection between the Jews of Novogrodek and the Bielski units. About 250 people managed to escape. After the third Aktion, they dug a tunnel under the camp and about 220 people escaped through it. 120 were killed and 100 reached the forests. Nieswiez The first revolt against the Germans in the Ghetto took place on July 21, 1942. The rebels set fire to the houses and fought in hand-to-hand combat against the Nazis. Groups and individuals reached the forests and formed partisan units. Ponar Ponar was the site of the pits where approximately 70,000 Vilna Jews were murdered. The “corpse burners” who were chained at the bottom of the pit and were forced to burn the victims, dug a tunnel and managed to escape. Pinsk The Pinsk Judenrat obstructed the efforts of the Underground to fight or to escape to the forests. Nevertheless, during the liquidation of the Ghetto, the uprising broke out. Most of the resisters were killed, but a few reached the forest. Slonim 30 people left Slonim for the forests and formed the Jewish Partisan Company “Schtorrs 51’. Other groups followed them, and they carried out daring operations in the ranks of the partisans. Sventsyan Youths from this town found their way to Markov, their former teacher, who had become a commander of a Partisan Brigade. They filled an important role in the fighting and served as excellent scouts, during the smuggling of Jews from the Vilna Ghetto to the forest. Kamin-Kushirski 300 people, 120 of them in organized groups, joined the partisans. Some of the groups fought battles against the Ukrainians. Kovno 200 people left the Kovno Ghetto in an organized group. One of the amazing events was the escape of the “corpse burners” from the Ninth Fort. Kalchek Approximately 200 youth were about to leave the Ghetto, but the head of the Judenrat entreated them not to go. The next day the Germans entered the Ghetto. The Jews set fire to the houses and defended themselves. Many broke through the Ghetto fences but few managed to escape. Most of them were killed. Only 16 of the partisans returned.

Partizans in different countries

Country Number Source/Page Remarks Belarus (West) 25,000 note 7 p 288 Not including 21,000 escapees Latvia 100 Lithuania + Vilnius distr. 1,800 note 6 p 230 note 14 p 998 Vilnius

600-700 note (13)

1650 note (14)

Noter

6. The Litvaks (E) 1990 –Prof. Dov Levin

7. Al Naharot HaNiemam VehaDniepr (H) –Dr. Shalom Cholavski

13. Vilna HaYehudit BeMa`avak U`Vechilayon (H) 1976 - Dr. Izchak Arad

14. Encyclopedia Shel Hashoa (H) 1990 –Yad Vashem

Bibliography

The total number of underground members and fighters is approximately 93,000. An additional approximate 45,000 hid in the forests, swamps and hills of Eastern Europe, mostly with their children and elders. Those are the “escapees” that chose the almost impossible existence, adamantly refusing to be slaughtered. Those are not definitive, conclusive figures. They have been carefully quoted from various research books and papers which sometimes vary substantially from one research to another. Another problem with the numbers is that many Jews decided not to reveal their nationality, mainly to protect their relatives and friends left behind in the ghettos. And finally, Jews, mostly with the Soviet partisans, were listed as nationals of the republic they belonged. The result: a Jew fighting in Belarus was listed as a Belarussian. The fate of the “escapees” with families was worse than that of the partisans. Although most of them had some arms for self–defense, their mobility was restricted, and any attack by enemy forces left them completely defenseless. It is estimated that approximately 40% of the Jewish partisans and 70% of the escapees fell in battle or were killed by German army and their various S.S. units, local collaborators and police, or Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and other anti-Jewish groups. We are unable to cite numbers of “escapees” in Southern and Western Europe due to lack of data. At the end of the war, approximately 56,000 Jewish fighters and underground members in Europe and 13,000 “escapees” in the East remained alive.

http://mj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/13/2/149 http://en.allexperts.com/e/k/ko/koniuchy_massacre.htm

http://www.kbismarck.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1285&start=390 1944 - World War II: About 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.

http://www.untilourlastbreath.com/index.html

http://www.litjews.org/Default.aspx?Element=ViewArticles&TopicID=2&Lang=EN