So if anyone can help on the topic PLEASE DO !!
JB
Lithuanian ? In Whermact? Waffen-SS?
Lithuanian ? In Whermact? Waffen-SS?
Hi, my girlfriend for the past near 2years is Half Lithuanian and i was talking to her mum about the war and i said i will find out if any Lithuanians joined the SS or Whermact? i know alot of Latvians did but in there eyes they have nothing to do with Latvia!! (to me its all the same)
So if anyone can help on the topic PLEASE DO !!
JB
So if anyone can help on the topic PLEASE DO !!
JB
Anymore???
Does anyone know anymore about this topic??
JB
JB
Lithuanian volunteer units
Jonny,
Here is a rough outline of Lithuanian invovlement in the German armed forces:
Numbers: 50,000 (mainly non-SS Police units).
There were no main SS units that included Lithuanian volunteers.
Most Lithuanian volunteers who joined the Germans did so on an individual basis. In February 1944 the Germans agreed to the formation of a Lithuanian self defence force titled 'Schutzkorps Litauen'. Approximately 19,000 men volunteered for the force. Although they were not keen on the Germans they knew what a return of the Soviets would mean.
Unfortunately for the Schutzkorps the Germans had other ideas than the defence of Lithuania and posted the men to protect LW bases in Russia.This, on top of other 'insults' by the Germans meant the unit deserted en-mass (some 16,000). The remaining men were drafted into the LW flak branch or formed into construction battalions.
Towards the end the other Lithuanian volunteers who'd served in the Polizei units were pressed into the Wehrmacht in units known as: 'Lituanische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regimenter'.
When the soviets invaded, many Lithuanians remained as partisans and, reportedly, kept fighting until 1956 when they were finally wiped out.
They do not appear to have been issued any special insignia.
I hope this is of some use to you.
Cookie
Here is a rough outline of Lithuanian invovlement in the German armed forces:
Numbers: 50,000 (mainly non-SS Police units).
There were no main SS units that included Lithuanian volunteers.
Most Lithuanian volunteers who joined the Germans did so on an individual basis. In February 1944 the Germans agreed to the formation of a Lithuanian self defence force titled 'Schutzkorps Litauen'. Approximately 19,000 men volunteered for the force. Although they were not keen on the Germans they knew what a return of the Soviets would mean.
Unfortunately for the Schutzkorps the Germans had other ideas than the defence of Lithuania and posted the men to protect LW bases in Russia.This, on top of other 'insults' by the Germans meant the unit deserted en-mass (some 16,000). The remaining men were drafted into the LW flak branch or formed into construction battalions.
Towards the end the other Lithuanian volunteers who'd served in the Polizei units were pressed into the Wehrmacht in units known as: 'Lituanische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regimenter'.
When the soviets invaded, many Lithuanians remained as partisans and, reportedly, kept fighting until 1956 when they were finally wiped out.
They do not appear to have been issued any special insignia.
I hope this is of some use to you.
Cookie
Mark A - AFRA
Try the Osprey men at arms book no.363 - Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2) Baltic Forces. It has two colour plates, six figures in all, and a decent summary of the Lithuanian cintribution to WW2.
There's also some fascinating stuff about the Forest Brethren, who kept the war with the USSR going until as late as 1978.
There's also some fascinating stuff about the Forest Brethren, who kept the war with the USSR going until as late as 1978.
