German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II
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Occupation of the Baltic states |
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After the
Under German rule
The Germans agreed to leave the Baltic states, except for Lithuania (which was later ceded in exchange for oil-rich regions of Poland), under the Soviet
In Lithuania, a
Germans immediately initiated anti-Jewish persecution by deploying its mobile death squads, the
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.[7] 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.
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht 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
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) before 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.[7]
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
By July 10, 1941, the German armed forces 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 or had co-operated with the Soviet regime was killed or sent to concentration camps.
Immediately after the installation of German authority (the beginning of July 1941) a process of eliminating the
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. The Latvians among these were mostly civilians whose political convictions were unacceptable to the German occupation force. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of Nazi Germany's racial policy. 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
A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation.[
Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany
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 – January 28, 1945). At first the Germans were welcomed as "liberators" from the repressive Soviet regime.[citation needed] In the hope of re-establishing independence or at least gaining autonomy, Lithuanians organized their Provisional Government.
References
- ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 115.
- ^ Baltic states German occupation at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Pinkus, Oscar (2005). The War Aims and Strategies of Adolf Hitler, p. 263. MacFarland & Company Inc., Publishers., London.
- ^ a b Lumans, Valdus O. (2006). Latvia in World War II, page 149. Fordham University Press. [1]
- ^ Martin Bormann's Minutes of a Meeting at Hitler's Headquarters (July 16, 1941) [2]
- ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 117.
- ^ ISBN 0312161921
- ISBN 978-9984905433
- ^ The German Occupation and the First Wave of Murder Archived 2007-01-10 at the Wayback Machine The Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Bibliography
- Yaacov Falkov, "Between the Nazi Hammer and the Soviet Anvil: The Untold Story of the Red Guerrillas in the Baltic Region, 1941–1945", in Chris Murray (ed.), Unknown Conflicts of the Second World War: Forgotten Fronts (London: Routledge, 2019), pp. 96–119, ISBN 978-1138612945
- Hiden, Johan; Salmon, Patrick (1994) [1991]. The Baltic Nations and Europe (Revised ed.). Harlow, England: Longman. ISBN 0-582-25650-X.