Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force

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The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (Lithuanian: Lietuvos vietinė rinktinė, LVR, German: Lituanische Sonderverbande)^[1] was a short-lived Lithuanian volunteer armed force created and disbanded in 1944 during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania. It was created and was subordinated to Nazi Germany. After brief engagements against Soviet and Polish partisans, the force was disbanded, its leaders arrested, and some of its members executed by the Nazis.

Contents 1 Creation 2 Activities 3 Liquidation 4 Union of Soldiers of Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force 5 Notes and references

[edit] Creation

In 1943, the Nazi authorities had attempted to raise a Waffen-SS division from the local population as they had in many other countries, but the mobilization was boycotted with less than 300 men reporting.^[2][3] The Nazis carried out reprisals against the population, closed all institutes of higher learning, and deported 46 leaders and members of the intelligentsia to the Stutthof concentration camp.^[2][3] It wasn't until February 1944, as the Eastern Front approached, that they reached an agreement with General Povilas Plechavičius — General of the Lithuanian army in the interwar period, and a popular military leader who had resisted the formation of the Waffen SS division — to form a defense force that would remain within Lithuanian borders.^[3]

After long discussions and conferences, Plechavičius signed a written agreement with the Germans on February 13, 1944 to form a local Lithuanian detachment. It was supposed to be a voluntary organisation led only by Lithuanian officers and stay with the borders of Lithuania defending the country against the Red Army.^{[citation needed]} On February 16, 1944, Lithuanian Independence Day, Plechavičius, commander of the detachment, made a radio appeal to the nation for volunteers. At first the plans called for 21 battalions, 250-strong each.^[4] It is noteworthy that all Lithuanian political underground organizations supported this solution.^{[citation needed]} This was achieved through constant communication between Lithuanian commanders and resistance leaders.^{[citation needed]} The February 16th appeal was enormously successful.^[4] Estimates put the number of volunteers between 20,000 and 30,000.^[2][3] The Germans were surprised and shocked by the number of volunteers since their own appeals went unheeded, as described. The Germans, perceiving the success of the detachment as a nationalist threat, started to interfere, breaking the signed agreement. On March 22, 1944, SS Obergruppenfuhrer and police general Friedrich Jackeln called for 70-80 thousand men for the German army as subsidiary assistants. Chief-of-Staff of the Northern Front Field Marshal Walther Model pressed for 15 battalions of men to protect the German military airports. Plechavičius rejected the demand on April 5, 1944.^{[citation needed]} General Commissioner of Lithuania Adrian von Renteln demanded workers for Germany proper.^{[citation needed]} Other German officials also voiced their demands.^{[citation needed]}Finally, on April 6, 1944, the Germans ordered Plechavičius to mobilize the country. Plechavičius responded that a further mobilization could not take place until the formation of his detachment was complete.^{[citation needed]} This greatly displeased the Germans since it was clear the detachment did not serve their immediate needs and interests.^{[citation needed]} Eventually the LTDF had a strength of about a 10,000 with 14 battalions, 13 750 strong each and the 14th a training one in Marijampolė. They were numbered as police battalions 301-310 and 312-314.^[4]

[edit] Activities

For more details on this topic, see Battle of Murowana Oszmianka.

In early May, the LTDF initiated a wide anti-partisan operation against the Polish and Soviet partisans in the area.^[5] Seven battalions were dispatched to man the garrisons in and around the towns of Oszmiany (modern Ašmiany, Belarus)^[6] and Holszany (modern Halšany, Belarus), notably the villages of Murowana Oszmianka, Graużyszki, Kuncewicze, Tołminowo and Nowosiółki. ^[4] Initially the struggle against the Polish forces was fairly successful, with numerous war crimes committed by both sides ^[7], notably the atrocities against the Polish civilians in Pawłów, Graużyszki and Sieńkowszczyzna^[8] However, in early May the Polish resistance fought back and organized a concentrated assault against the fortified Lithuanian positions around the village of Murowana Oszmianka. Overnight of May 13 and May 14 the 3rd Brigade of the Home Army assaulted the village from the west and north-west, while the 8th and 12th Brigades attacked from the south and east. The remainder of the Polish forces (13th and 9th Brigades) secured the Murowana Oszmianka-Tołminowo road. ^[4] The defences, reinforced with concrete bunkers and trenches, were manned by the 301st and 308th battalions of the VVR, the latter detachment already wavering after having suffered a defeat at Graużyszki on May 5, where it suffered 47 casualties and was dispersed by the 8th and 12th Brigades of the Home Army^[9]

The assault proved successful as the Lithuanian garrisons in nearby towns did not move from their posts. In the effect of the battle the Lithuanian force lost 60 men, while 170 were taken prisoner of war. Another 117 Lithuanian soldiers were taken prisoner later that night in the nearby village of Tołminowo^[10] After the battle all Lithuanian prisoners of war were disarmed and set free with only their long johns and helmets on. ^{[6] [11] [12]}

[edit] Liquidation

In the effect of the operation against the Home Army, the LVR became so weakened that after the defeat in the battle of Murowana Oszmianka that the Germans decided the formations are useless to them and need to be disbanded.^[8][4]

The Germans decided to end the resistance of the Lithuanians and the formation of the detachment. Provocation seemed to be the best method to escalate the situation.^{[citation needed]} Jackeln demanded the detachment troops to take an oath to Hitler, the text of which was provided.^{[citation needed]} Plechavičius rejected the demand. On May 9, 1944, Jackeln ordered the detachment units in Vilnius to revert to his direct authority, and all other units of the detachment were to come under the command of the regional German commissars. Furthermore, the detachment was to wear SS uniforms^{[citation needed]} and use the Heil Hitler greeting. The TDF moved from conditional cooperation to active resistance.^{[citation needed]} Plechavičius issued a declaration for his men to disband and disappear into the forests with their weapons and uniforms.^[3][13][14] The Lithuanian headquarters directed the detachment units in the field to obey only the orders of the Lithuanian detachment. It also ordered the Detachment Officer School in the city of Marijampolė to send the cadets home. The men that disbanded with their weapons would form the core of the armed anti-Soviet resistance in Lithuania for the next eight years,^[3] but already in 1944, covert Soviet plans were underway for the destruction of the remnants of Plechavičius' army.^[15]

The Germans acted ferociously in liquidating the detachment. On May 15, Plechavičius, the commander of the detachment, was arrested together with the other staff members. He was deported to the Salaspils concentration camp in Latvia.^{[citation needed]} To make an example, Nazi publicly executed 12 randomly selected soldiers in a Vilnius line-up which consisted of some 800 men.^{[citation needed]} En route to the city of Kaunas, while transporting some arrested members, one of the prisoners escaped. In retaliation, the Germans then selected NCO Ruseckas for execution on the spot. Since the German regular army guards were stalling the execution, a German SS commissioned officer did the actual shooting.^{[citation needed]} Many soldiers of the Territorial Defense Force were deported to Germany, died or were deported to Soviet prison camps.^{[citation needed]}

Vietinė rinktinė was no more, but many of its members went underground and would engage in guerilla warfare against the coming Soviet occupation until the mid-1950s.^[3]

[edit] Union of Soldiers of Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force

The Union of Soldiers of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (Lietuvos vietinės rinktinės karių sąjunga), a veterans organization, was founded in 1997.^[16]

[edit] Notes and references