Dubingiai massacre

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Lithuanian civilians killed by Armia Krajowa on 23 June 1944 in Molėtai district.
Lithuanian civilians killed by Armia Krajowa on 23 June 1944 in Molėtai district.

Dubingiai massacre was a mass murder of up to 27 Lithuanians in the town of Dubingiai (Dubinki) on 23 June 1944 (during World War II) by the Polish resistance unit of Armia Krajowa. It was a reprisal action for the Glinciszki (Glitiškės) massacre.

Contents

[edit] Background

Polish-Lithuanian relations during World War II were problematic since both sides claimed the Vilnius region,[1] and due to conflicts between Lithuanian pro-Nazi administration and military units and the anti-Nazi Polish resistance.[2] On 20 June 1944 Polish resistance killed 4 and wounded several other members of the Lithuanian police in the village of Glitiškės (Glinciszki); in retaliation the Lithuanian police murdered 36 mostly Polish villagers (the Glinciszki massacre).[2] After receiving this report, as well as information about intensified pacification actions by the Lithuanian forces in other areas, Armia Krajowa command for the Vilnius region (under Aleksander Krzyżanowski "Wilk") decided that it represented a beginning of a new, large anti-Polish operation and only a demonstration of a Polish force in the region could stop the pacifications and protect the Polish civilians.[2] Leaflets were distributed through the region that AK is planning to execute members of the Lithuanian units guilty[2] of the Glinciszki massacre, [2] and a raid on the pre-war Lithuanian territories (the Kaunas Lithuania) was planned.[3][2] It should be noted that the AK command did not plan, and actually strictly forbade, any reprisals against innocent civilians.[2][3]

In the meantime, elements of the 5th AK Brigade under command of Zygmunt Szendzielarz aka "Łupaszko"[4] learned that some of the responsible individuals and their families were stationed in the police station in Dubingai.[5][3][6] An AK unit - a company of the 5th Brigade under Jan Wiktor Wiącek "Rakoczy"[2] - decided to destroy the police station in the village as well as to execute several Nazi-Lithuanian informants in the village.[2] It should be noted that there is a confusion over who led the raid on Dubingiai; as most sources attribute it to the commander of the 5th Brigade, Szendzielarz[5][4] - although Henryk Piaskunowicz, Polish historian and author of several publications about Armia Krajowa operations in Vilnius region, specifically pointed to Wiącek.[2]

AK headquarters having learned of that initiative, and afraid that the soldiers of the 5th Brigade who have freshly witnessed the aftermath of Glinciszki may not follow the orders forbidding actions against civilians, sent a courier from AK headquarters in Vilnius ordering the 5th Brigade to stay put, the courier, however, did not reach the local commanders in time.[2][6]

[edit] Events in Dubingai

The village was warned about the coming of the Polish forces, and in fact many individuals - including the policeman who participated in the Glinciszki massacre - escaped before the Polish forces secured the village.[2] The AK forces targeted Dubingiai's Lithuanian populace but spared those with Polish ties (Lithuanian husbands with Polish wives)[4]. They used possession of Lithuanian prayer books as a means of identifying Lithuanian men.[4] Those the AK considered collaborators were prime targets[2] however the killings went out of control, and victims included elderly and the children. At least one Pole, a woman, was also reported to have been killed.[6]. The total number of victims is estimated at 20 to 27.[5][7]

[edit] Aftermath

The reprisal actions of AK in Dubingiai, even if premature and unplanned by AK command, marked the beginning of a wider AK operation, in which units other than only the 5th Brigade were involved.[8][2] From 25 to 27 June various Polish units entered a pre-war Lithuanian territory and carried out a series of actions against Lithuanian police forces[2] and known sympathizers of the Nazi regime.[2] Bridges and telecommunication lines were destroyed.[2] Polish sources note that a number of civilian casualties, both Lithuanian and Polish, occurred as a result of the reprisal actions during that period (particularly when several buildings caught fire).[2][9] According to Lithuanian sources[10][11] between 70-100 Lithuanians, including civilians, were killed in total by the end of June 1944, not only in Dubingiai but also in the neighbouring villages of Joniškis, Inturkė, Bijutiškis, and Giedraičiai[11].

The reprisal action of 23-27 June succeeded in cowing the Lithuanian authorities,[2] as it demonstrated that AK will react to further persecution of Polish civilians and answer with deadly force; no further large scale atrocities against Polish civilians (on a scale of the Glinciszki massacre which initiated the AK reprisal actions) were committed by the Lithuanian forces.[2] The action of 23-27 June was the only reprisal action ever carried out by Armia Krajowa;[2][12] nonetheless it did manage to stain the reputation of AK in Lithuania.

Zygmunt Szendzielarz, commander of the 5th Brigade, was executed by the Polish communist authorities in 1951.[13]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Lithuanian) Rimantas Zizas in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 14-39.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u (Polish) Henryk Piaskunowicz, Działalnośc zbrojna Armi Krajowej na Wileńszczyśnie w latach 1942-1944 in Zygmunt Boradyn; Andrzej Chmielarz, Henryk Piskunowicz (1997). in Tomasz Strzembosz: Armia Krajowa na Nowogródczyźnie i Wileńszczyźnie (1941-1945). Warsaw: Institute of Political Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, p. 40-45. ISBN 8390716803. 
  3. ^ a b c R. Korab-Żebryk, 'Biała księga w obronie Armii Krajowej na Wileńszczyźnie, Wydawnictwo Lubelskie 1991, p. 135-139
  4. ^ a b c d (Lithuanian) Tadas Galinis. Dubingių skerdynės (Dubingiai massacre) in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 76-80.
  5. ^ a b c Piotrowski, p.168, p.169
  6. ^ a b c (Polish) Andrzej Solak, Bohater ze skazą. Retrieved on 25 MArch 2008.
  7. ^ (Polish) Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-02-14, Litewska prokuratura przesłuchuje weteranów AK (Lithuanian prosecutor questioning AK veterans), last accessed on 7 June 2006
  8. ^ Kozłowski, p. 66
  9. ^ Patryk Kozłowski confirms that 12 Lithuanians were killed in the area of Joniškis (Janiszki) by the squad commanded by "Maks" ("Jeden z wyklętych ...", p. 64)[dubious – discuss]
  10. ^ (Lithuanian) Rimantas Zizas in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 14-39. Vykdydama atsakomasias keršto akcijas, AK 5-oji brigada Molėtų raj, Dubingių, Bijutiškio, Joniškio, Inturkės ir kitose apylinkėse nužudė apie 100 lietuvių. Translation=During retaliation actions AK 5-th brigade killed around 100 Lithuanians in the vicinity of Molėtai region towns Dubingiai, Bijutiškis, Joniškis, Inturkė and others.
  11. ^ a b (Lithuanian) Arūnas Bubnys in "Armijos Krajovos ...", pp. 6-13. Ypač žiauriai išžudytė Dubingių gyventojus 1944 birželio pabaigoje. Negalutiniais duomenimis lenkų partizanai čia išžudė 70 taikių lietuvių, tarp jų daug senelių ir mažamečių vaikų. | Translation=Especially brutally were murdered Dubingiai inhabitants on the end of June 1944. According to a non final data Polish partisants did kill here around 70 peaceful people, including old men and underage kids.
  12. ^ Arūnas Bubnys as cited in (Polish) Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-02-14, Litewska prokuratura przesłuchuje weteranów AK (Lithuanian prosecutor questioning AK veterans), last accessed on 7 June 2006]
  13. ^ (Polish) Stanisław M. Jankowski, Strzały na Wileńszczyźnie. Retrieved on 25 March 2008.

[edit] References

  • (Polish) Kozłowski, Patryk (2004). Jeden z wyklętych. Zygmunt Szendzielarz "Łupaszko". ISBN 83-7399-073-9. 
  • (Lithuanian) Garšva, Kazys; A. Bubnys, E. Gečiauskas, J. Lebionka, J. Saudargienė, R. Zizas (1995). "Armijos Krajovos ištakos ir ideologija Lietuvoje" (Beginnings and ideology of Armia Krajowa in Lithuania). Armija Krajova Lietuvoje. ISBN 9986-577-02-0. 
  • (English) Piotrowski, Tadeusz (1997). "Poland's Holocaust". McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.