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Revision as of 07:17, 10 July 2020 edit92.49.27.62 (talk) Was it specifically Lithuanian and only Lithuanians were enrolled or there were at least one person of any other Nationality? The article tries to stress Lithuanian'ness too much as if it was not German, but specifically Lithuanian squad, hiring specifically Lithuanians of at least 20 generations back (with a certificate of true and pure Lithuanian), which is absurd and needs citations if it was true.← Previous edit Latest revision as of 20:13, 25 November 2024 edit undoGrendel532 (talk | contribs)58 edits →1944 
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{{Short description|Lithuanian killing squad}}
{{Italic title}} {{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
⚫ '''''Ypatingasis būrys''''' (''Special Squad'') or '''Special SD and German Security Police Squad''' ({{lang-lt|Vokiečių Saugumo policijos ir SD ypatingasis būrys}}, {{lang-pl|Specjalny Oddział SD i Niemieckiej Policji Bezpieczeństwa}}, also colloquially ''strzelcy ponarscy'' ("] riflemen" in Polish)<ref name="Diap"> on Diapositive.</ref><ref name="Piotrowski-162"/> (1941–1944) was a Lithuanian{{Citation needed}} killing squad also called the "Lithuanian equivalent of ]",<ref name=McQueen/> operating in the ]. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian{{Citation needed}} volunteers,<ref name="Snyder">], ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0-300-10586-X}} </ref> was formed by the German occupational government<ref name=Bubnys2/> and was subordinate to ] and later to ] (SD) and ] (Sipo).<ref>{{cite book| title=Ponary Diary, 1941–1943 : A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder | publisher=Yale University Press |year=2005 |pages=7, 15 | last=Sakowicz |first=Kazimierz |isbn=978-0-300-10853-8}}</ref>


⚫ '''''Ypatingasis būrys''''' ({{Literal translation|Special Squad}}, {{Langx|de|Sonderkommando}}) or '''Special Squad of the German Security Police and SD''' ({{langx|lt|Vokiečių Saugumo policijos ir SD ypatingasis būrys}})<ref name="Piotrowski-162" /> was a killing squad operating in the ] in 1941–1944. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers,<ref name="Snyder">], ''The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'', Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0-300-10586-X}} </ref> was formed by the German occupation government<ref name="Bubnys2" /> and was subordinate to ] and later to ] (SD) and ] (Sipo).<ref name=ponary>
There are different estimates regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian ] estimates that it grew from base of 50<ref name="Konspekt">Konspekt ''Ponary – Golgota Wileńszczyzny'' Czesław Michalski Pedagogical University of Cracow 2001</ref> while ] asserts about that there were 100 volunteers at its onset.<ref name="Piotrowski-165">{{cite book | author = ] | title = Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... | year =1997 | publisher =McFarland & Company | isbn = 0-7864-0371-3| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A4FlatJCro4C&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&ots=0IlMI8SI-W&sig=7J0sXwRUPjVs1IJ9SapOKBhFqaw | page =165 }}</ref> According to Michalski, after its initial creation, at various times hundreds of people were members.<ref name="Konspekt"/> ] states that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men.<ref name=Bubnys1>{{cite web |url= http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm |title=Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) |accessdate=18 February 2007 |last=Bubnys |first=Arūnas |authorlink=Arūnas Bubnys |year=2004 |language=Lithuanian |quote=Pirmą kartą dokumentuose Vilniaus ypatingojo būrio vardas (vok. Sonderkommando) aptinkamas 1941 m. liepos 15 d. Dokumentuose kalbama apie šovinių išdavimą ypatingojo būrio reikmėms.}}</ref> 118 names are known; 20 of the members have been prosecuted and punished.<ref></ref> Together with German police, the squad participated in the ], where some 70,000 Jews were murdered,<ref name="Jews">Jews of Vilna and Lithuania in general had their own complex identity, and labels of ], ] or ] are all applicable only in part. See also: ], ''On Modern Jewish Politics'', Oxford University Press, 1993, {{ISBN|0-19-508319-9}}, and ], ''Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages'', Houghton Mifflin Books, 2003, {{ISBN|0-618-23649-X}}, </ref> along with estimated 20,000 ] and 8,000 ]n POWs, many from nearby Vilnius.
{{cite book
| title=Ponary Diary, 1941–1943 : A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder
| publisher=Yale University Press
| year=2005
| last=Sakowicz
| first=Kazimierz
| isbn=978-0-300-10853-8
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNI79jJnsOoC
}}</ref><sup>p.15</sup> The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no official autonomy.<ref name="Bubnys3">
{{cite web
|last=Bubnys
|first=Arūnas
|author-link=Arūnas Bubnys
|year=2004|title=Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)
|url=http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm
|access-date=18 February 2007
|language=lt
|quote=YB buvo pavaldus tik vokiečių saugumo policijai ir vykdė jos pareigūnų nurodymus.
}}</ref> In Polish they were colloquially called ''strzelcy ponarscy'' ("] ]" in Polish).


==History== == History ==
] Woods]] ] Woods]]
The Vilnian Special Squad ({{langx|lt|Ypatingasis būrys}}) was first mentioned in documents dated 15 July 1941. The Special Squad (YB) began as police units formed when Lithuania was occupied by Germany in 1941. Lithuanian historian ] notes that it is difficult to confirm how many members the YB had and how many people they killed. Bubnys argues that the number of 100,000 victims attributed to the organization is inflated.<ref name="Bubnys">{{cite book|author=Arūnas Bubnys|url=http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm|title=Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) (German and Lithuanian security police: 1941–1944)|publisher=]|year=2004|location=Vilnius|language=lt|author-link=Arūnas Bubnys|access-date=9 June 2006}}</ref>
The first mention of the name of the Vilnian Special Squad, ({{lang-lt|Ypatingasis būrys}}) is from documents dated 15 July 1941. The Special Squad (YB) began as police units formed after Lithuania was occupied by Germany in 1941. Many were volunteers,<ref name="Snyder"/> particularly recruited from the former paramilitary ]<ref name="Piotrowski-162">{{cite book | author =] | title =Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... | year =1997 | publisher =McFarland & Company | isbn = 0-7864-0371-3| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A4FlatJCro4C&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&ots=0IlJRbNH1_&sig=bRwOeNo9FqhDR1UjNK5amJ9pk2k | page =162 }}</ref><ref name="Sak">], ], Yale University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-300-10853-2}} </ref> ] ({{lang-lt|Lietuvos Šaulių Sąjunga}}) organization.<ref name="WSP-Ponary">{{in lang|pl}} Czesław Michalski, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224124407/http://www.wsp.krakow.pl/konspekt/konspekt5/ponary.html |date=24 December 2008 }} (Ponary – the Golgoth of Wilno Region). ''Konspekt'' nº 5, Winter 2000–2001, a publication of the ]. Last accessed on 10 February 2007.</ref><ref name="adw">{{in lang|pl}} Stanisław Mikke, . Relation from a Polish–Lithuanian memorial ceremony in Paneriai, 2000. On the pages of Polish Bar Association</ref> It was composed primarily of Lithuanians{{Citation needed}}, although according to Lithuanian historian Bubnys, a few Russians and a few Poles served in it as well.<ref name=McQueen>{{cite web |url=http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-07-03/paper.pdf |title=Lithuanian Collaboration in the "Final Solution": Motivations and Case Studies |accessdate=19 February 2007 |last=MacQueen |first=Michael |year=2004 |format=pdf |work=Lithuania and the Jews The Holocaust Chapter |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |pages=55 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515225310/http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-07-03/paper.pdf |archivedate=15 May 2006 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=Bubnys2>{{cite web |url= http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm |title= Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) |accessdate=18 February 2007 |last=Bubnys |first=Arūnas |authorlink=Arūnas Bubnys |year=2004 |language=Lithuanian |quote=Daugumą būrio narių sudarė lietuviai, tačiau buvo keletas rusų ir lenkų.}}</ref>


=== Composition and size ===
The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no autonomy.<ref name=Bubnys3>{{cite web |url= http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm |title= Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) |accessdate=18 February 2007 |last=Bubnys |first=Arūnas |authorlink=Arūnas Bubnys |year=2004 |language=Lithuanian |quote=YB buvo pavaldus tik vokiečių saugumo policijai ir vykdė jos pareigūnų nurodymus.}}</ref> Amongst the original organizers of the squad were junior lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. After 23 July 1941, the commanding officer was ]. Squad members were issued Soviet weapons and white armbands and were used as guards and to move Jews from their apartments to the ]. In November 1941, lieutenant ], became the commander of the squad and his deputy was lieutenant ]. The size of the squad was reduced to between forty and fifty men. By the end of 1943, Norvaiša and Lukošius were deployed to a self-defence battalion and command of the YB was transferred to sergeant ]. Some of the squad members were wearing uniforms of Lithuanian Army until in 1942 they were issued green ] uniforms with ] and skulls on caps. Squad members were also issued SD identity cards. YB was subordinate only to the ]. The longest-serving commander of YB was ] man ]. Weiss not only directed executions but killed victims personally. In 1943 Weiss was replaced by private Fiedler.<ref name="Bubnys">{{cite book | author =] | title =Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) (German and Lithuanian security police: 1941–1944)| year =2004 | publisher =] | location =Vilnius | url = http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm | accessdate =9 June 2006 |language=lt}}</ref>
Many members were volunteers,<ref name="Snyder" /> particularly former members of the ]<ref name="Piotrowski-162">{{cite book | author =Tadeusz Piotrowski | author-link =Tadeusz Piotrowski (sociologist) | title =Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... | year =1997 | publisher =McFarland & Company | isbn = 0-7864-0371-3| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A4FlatJCro4C&pg=PA162 | page =162 }}</ref> paramilitary ]<ref>{{cite book| page=142|title=War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe After the Great War |editor1=Robert Gerwarth |editor2= John Horne |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ap94gZsbu6QC |year=2012|isbn=978-0-19-965491-8 }}</ref><ref name=ponary/><sup>p.12</sup> It was composed primarily of Lithuanians, although according to Bubnys, a few Russians and Poles served as well.<ref name="Bubnys2">
{{cite web
|url= http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm |title= Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)
|access-date=18 February 2007
|last=Bubnys
|first=Arūnas
|author-link=Arūnas Bubnys
|year=2004 |language=lt
|quote=Daugumą būrio narių sudarė lietuviai, tačiau buvo keletas rusų ir lenkų.
}}</ref>


Estimates differ regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian {{ill|Czesław Michalski|pl}} estimates that it grew from a base of 50 while ] asserts there were 100 volunteers at the onset.<ref name="Piotrowski-165">{{cite book|author=Tadeusz Piotrowski|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4FlatJCro4C&pg=PA165
YB was created to kill people and it killed people during its entire existence. It carried out most of the murders in 1941. YB killed people in ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Bubnys"/>
|title=Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide...
|publisher=McFarland & Company
|year=1997
|isbn=0-7864-0371-3
|page=165
|author-link=Tadeusz Piotrowski (sociologist)}}</ref> According to Michalski, at times it had hundreds of members. Bubnys says that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men.<ref name="Bubnys1">
{{cite web
|last=Bubnys
|first=Arūnas
|author-link=Arūnas Bubnys
|year=2004
|title=Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)
|url=http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/1/arunas1.htm
|access-date=18 February 2007
|language=lt
|quote=Pirmą kartą dokumentuose Vilniaus ypatingojo būrio vardas (vok. Sonderkommando) aptinkamas 1941 m. liepos 15 d. Dokumentuose kalbama apie šovinių išdavimą ypatingojo būrio reikmėms.}}</ref> Of the members, 118 names are known; 20 have been prosecuted and sentenced.<ref> {{dead link|date=December 2023}}</ref> According to Bubnys, who cited the Polish historian ], during 1941–1944, approximately 108 men were members of the YB.<ref name="Bubnys" />


=== Role in the Holocaust ===
⚫ YB also guarded the ] headquarters in Vilnius, the prison on present-day ], as well as the Paneriai base. When Germans closed Vilnius' monasteries in 1943, YB guarded their facilities until Germans removed the seized property.<ref name="Bubnys"/> In 1943 YB performed far fewer executions than in 1941–1942. From December 1943 Paneriai was guarded by an SS unit and by 1944, according to Lithuanian historian Bubnys, YB did not perform shootings in Paneriai.<ref name="Bubnys"/>
The squad members were used as guards and took ] from their apartments to the ]. The YB also guarded the ] headquarters in ], the prison on present-day ], as well as the ] base.{{cn|date=November 2023}}


Together with the German military's ], the squad participated in the ], in which some 70,000 Jews were murdered, many from nearby Vilnius<ref>Jews of Vilnius and Lithuania in general had their own complex identity, and labels like "]", "Lithuanian Jews", or "]" are all applicable only in part. See also: Ezra Mendelsohn, ''On Modern Jewish Politics'', Oxford University Press, 1993, {{ISBN|0-19-508319-9}}, and ], ''Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages'', Houghton Mifflin Books, 2003, {{ISBN|0-618-23649-X}}, </ref> along with estimated 20,000 Poles and 8,000 Russian POWs. The YB was created to kill people and it killed people during its entire existence.{{cn|date=December 2023}} It carried out most of the murders in 1941. The YB is known to have killed people in Paneriai, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Bubnys" />
⚫ From August 1943 YB was renamed to a Squad of 11th Battalion of ]. Old identity documents were replaced with new documents of Latvian Legion troops. Despite the formal change, YB was still serving German Security Police and SD. In July 1944 YB was moved to ] and stationed at ]. There YB guarded the prison and before retreating, killed 100 prisoners. Then YB was moved to ], where it escorted Jews to ]. It stayed there until April 1944, when it received orders to convoy Jews to ]. However members of YB fled from the approaching front and Jewish prisoners escaped. Some YB members successfully retreated to Germany; some stayed in the zone occupied by Red Army.<ref name="Bubnys"/>


==== 1943 ====
⚫ YB killed tens of thousands people, mostly Jews. Ten YB members were sentenced and executed by Soviet authorities in 1945 (Jonas Oželis-Kazlauskas, Juozas Macys, Stasys Ukrinas, Mikas Bogotkevičius, Povilas Vaitulionis, Jonas Dvilainis, Vladas Mandeika, Borisas Baltūsis, Juozas Augustas, Jonas Norkevičius).<ref name="Bubnys"/> In total, twenty YB members were convicted by Polish and Soviet authorities, four of them in Poland in the 70s.<ref name="adw"/> In 1972 Polish authorities arrested three men, one Polish (Jan Borkowski, who during the war used a Lithuanized version of his name, Jonas Barkauskas), and the other two of mixed Polish–Lithuanian ethnicity (Władysław Butkun aka Vladas Butkunas and Józef Miakisz aka Juozas Mikašius) and sentenced them to death. This was later commuted to 20 years imprisonment.<ref name=McQueen/> Other YB members died after the war or lived abroad.<ref name="Bubnys"/>
⚫ When the Germans closed Vilnius' monasteries in 1943, the YB guarded their facilities until Germans removed the seized property.<ref name="Bubnys" />{{clarify|date=November 2023}} In 1943, the YB performed far fewer executions than in 1941–1942. Beginning in December 1943, Paneriai was guarded by an ], and by 1944, according to Bubnys, the YB did not perform shootings in Paneriai.<ref name="Bubnys" />


Beginning in August 1943, the YB was renamed a squad of the 11th Battalion of the ]. Their old identity documents were replaced with new documents from the Latvian Legion. Despite the formal change, the YB still served the German Security Police and SD.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
According to the Lithuanian historian Arūnas Bubnys, who cited the Polish historian ], during 1941–1944, approximately 108 men were members of YB.<ref name="Bubnys"/> Bubnys notes that it is difficult to answer two questions: how many members YB had and how many people they killed. Bubnys argues that the number of 100,000 victims attributed to the organization is inflated.<ref name="Bubnys"/>

==== 1944 ====
⚫ In July 1944, the YB was moved to ] and stationed at ]. There, the YB guarded the prison and before retreating, killed 100 prisoners.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Afterward, the YB was moved to ], where it escorted Jews to ]. It stayed there until April 1945, when it received orders to convoy Jews to ]. However, the YB members fled from the approaching front and the Jewish prisoners escaped. Some YB members successfully retreated to Germany; some stayed in the zone occupied by ].<ref name="Bubnys" />

== Uniforms ==
Squad members were issued Soviet weapons and white armbands. Some squad members wore Lithuanian Army uniforms until 1942, when they were issued green ] uniforms with ]a and skulls on their caps. Squad members were also issued SD identity cards.

== Commanders ==
Among the original organizers of the squad were junior lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. After 23 July 1941, the commanding officer was ]. In November 1941, lieutenant ], became the commander of the squad and his deputy was lieutenant ]. By the end of 1943, Norvaiša and Lukošius were deployed to a self-defence battalion and command of the YB was transferred to sergeant ]. The longest-serving commander of the YB was SS man ]. Weiss not only directed executions, but killed victims personally. In 1943, Weiss was replaced by private Fiedler.<ref name="Bubnys" />

== Aftermath ==
⚫ Ten YB members were sentenced and executed by Soviet authorities in 1945 (Jonas Oželis-Kazlauskas, Juozas Macys, Stasys Ukrinas, Mikas Bogotkevičius, Povilas Vaitulionis, Jonas Dvilainis, Vladas Mandeika, Borisas Baltūsis, Juozas Augustas, and Jonas Norkevičius).<ref name="Bubnys" /> In total, twenty YB members were convicted by Polish and Soviet authorities, four of them in Poland in the 70s. In 1972, Polish authorities arrested three men, one Polish (Jan Borkowski, who during the war used a Lithuanized version of his name, Jonas Barkauskas), and the other two of mixed Polish–Lithuanian ethnicity (Władysław Butkun aka Vladas Butkunas and Józef Miakisz aka Juozas Mikašius) and sentenced them to death. These sentences were later commuted to 25 years imprisonment.<ref name="McQueen">
{{cite web |url=http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-07-03/paper.pdf |title=Lithuanian Collaboration in the "Final Solution": Motivations and Case Studies |access-date=19 February 2007
|last=MacQueen
|first=Michael
|year=2004
|work=Lithuania and the Jews The Holocaust Chapter
|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |pages=55
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515225310/http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/occasional/2005-07-03/paper.pdf
|archive-date=15 May 2006}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite web
|last=KW
|title=Piekło na Litwie (I) – Kurier Wileński |url=https://kurierwilenski.lt/2016/05/06/pieklo-na-litwie-i/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=kurierwilenski.lt
|date=6 May 2016
|language=pl-PL}}</ref> Other YB members died after the war or lived abroad.<ref name="Bubnys" />


==See also== ==See also==
*]
*] *]
*] *]
*] *]


== References == == References ==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
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Latest revision as of 20:13, 25 November 2024

Lithuanian killing squad

Ypatingasis būrys (lit. 'Special Squad', German: Sonderkommando) or Special Squad of the German Security Police and SD (Lithuanian: Vokiečių Saugumo policijos ir SD ypatingasis būrys) was a killing squad operating in the Vilnius Region in 1941–1944. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers, was formed by the German occupation government and was subordinate to Einsatzkommando 9 and later to Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo). The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no official autonomy. In Polish they were colloquially called strzelcy ponarscy ("Ponary riflemen" in Polish).

History

Original Soviet built memorial to the Soviet Victims in the Paneriai Woods

The Vilnian Special Squad (Lithuanian: Ypatingasis būrys) was first mentioned in documents dated 15 July 1941. The Special Squad (YB) began as police units formed when Lithuania was occupied by Germany in 1941. Lithuanian historian Arūnas Bubnys notes that it is difficult to confirm how many members the YB had and how many people they killed. Bubnys argues that the number of 100,000 victims attributed to the organization is inflated.

Composition and size

Many members were volunteers, particularly former members of the nationalistic paramilitary Lithuanian Riflemen's Union It was composed primarily of Lithuanians, although according to Bubnys, a few Russians and Poles served as well.

Estimates differ regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian Czesław Michalski [pl] estimates that it grew from a base of 50 while Tadeusz Piotrowski asserts there were 100 volunteers at the onset. According to Michalski, at times it had hundreds of members. Bubnys says that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men. Of the members, 118 names are known; 20 have been prosecuted and sentenced. According to Bubnys, who cited the Polish historian Helena Pasierbska, during 1941–1944, approximately 108 men were members of the YB.

Role in the Holocaust

The squad members were used as guards and took Jews from their apartments to the ghetto. The YB also guarded the Gestapo headquarters in Vilnius, the prison on present-day Gediminas Avenue, as well as the Paneriai base.

Together with the German military's Einsatzgruppen, the squad participated in the Ponary massacre, in which some 70,000 Jews were murdered, many from nearby Vilnius along with estimated 20,000 Poles and 8,000 Russian POWs. The YB was created to kill people and it killed people during its entire existence. It carried out most of the murders in 1941. The YB is known to have killed people in Paneriai, Nemenčinė, Naujoji Vilnia, Varėna, Jašiūnai, Eišiškės, Trakai, Semeliškės, and Švenčionys.

1943

When the Germans closed Vilnius' monasteries in 1943, the YB guarded their facilities until Germans removed the seized property. In 1943, the YB performed far fewer executions than in 1941–1942. Beginning in December 1943, Paneriai was guarded by an SS unit, and by 1944, according to Bubnys, the YB did not perform shootings in Paneriai.

Beginning in August 1943, the YB was renamed a squad of the 11th Battalion of the Latvian Legion. Their old identity documents were replaced with new documents from the Latvian Legion. Despite the formal change, the YB still served the German Security Police and SD.

1944

In July 1944, the YB was moved to Kaunas and stationed at Ninth Fort. There, the YB guarded the prison and before retreating, killed 100 prisoners. Afterward, the YB was moved to Stutthof, where it escorted Jews to Toruń. It stayed there until April 1945, when it received orders to convoy Jews to Bydgoszcz. However, the YB members fled from the approaching front and the Jewish prisoners escaped. Some YB members successfully retreated to Germany; some stayed in the zone occupied by Red Army.

Uniforms

Squad members were issued Soviet weapons and white armbands. Some squad members wore Lithuanian Army uniforms until 1942, when they were issued green SD uniforms with swastikaa and skulls on their caps. Squad members were also issued SD identity cards.

Commanders

Among the original organizers of the squad were junior lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. After 23 July 1941, the commanding officer was Juozas Šidlauskas. In November 1941, lieutenant Balys Norvaiša, became the commander of the squad and his deputy was lieutenant Balys Lukošius. By the end of 1943, Norvaiša and Lukošius were deployed to a self-defence battalion and command of the YB was transferred to sergeant Jonas Tumas. The longest-serving commander of the YB was SS man Martin Weiss. Weiss not only directed executions, but killed victims personally. In 1943, Weiss was replaced by private Fiedler.

Aftermath

Ten YB members were sentenced and executed by Soviet authorities in 1945 (Jonas Oželis-Kazlauskas, Juozas Macys, Stasys Ukrinas, Mikas Bogotkevičius, Povilas Vaitulionis, Jonas Dvilainis, Vladas Mandeika, Borisas Baltūsis, Juozas Augustas, and Jonas Norkevičius). In total, twenty YB members were convicted by Polish and Soviet authorities, four of them in Poland in the 70s. In 1972, Polish authorities arrested three men, one Polish (Jan Borkowski, who during the war used a Lithuanized version of his name, Jonas Barkauskas), and the other two of mixed Polish–Lithuanian ethnicity (Władysław Butkun aka Vladas Butkunas and Józef Miakisz aka Juozas Mikašius) and sentenced them to death. These sentences were later commuted to 25 years imprisonment. Other YB members died after the war or lived abroad.

See also

References

  1. ^ Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... McFarland & Company. p. 162. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.
  2. ^ Timothy Snyder, The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10586-X Google Books, p.84
  3. ^ Bubnys, Arūnas (2004). "Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)" (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 February 2007. Daugumą būrio narių sudarė lietuviai, tačiau buvo keletas rusų ir lenkų.
  4. ^ Sakowicz, Kazimierz (2005). Ponary Diary, 1941–1943 : A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10853-8.
  5. Bubnys, Arūnas (2004). "Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)" (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 February 2007. YB buvo pavaldus tik vokiečių saugumo policijai ir vykdė jos pareigūnų nurodymus.
  6. ^ Arūnas Bubnys (2004). Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944) (German and Lithuanian security police: 1941–1944) (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras. Retrieved 9 June 2006.
  7. Robert Gerwarth; John Horne, eds. (2012). War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe After the Great War. Oxford University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-19-965491-8.
  8. Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... McFarland & Company. p. 165. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.
  9. Bubnys, Arūnas (2004). "Vokiečių ir lietuvių saugumo policija (1941–1944)" (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 18 February 2007. Pirmą kartą dokumentuose Vilniaus ypatingojo būrio vardas (vok. Sonderkommando) aptinkamas 1941 m. liepos 15 d. Dokumentuose kalbama apie šovinių išdavimą ypatingojo būrio reikmėms.
  10. Raport z rozstrzelanego świata
  11. Jews of Vilnius and Lithuania in general had their own complex identity, and labels like "Polish Jews", "Lithuanian Jews", or "Russian Jews" are all applicable only in part. See also: Ezra Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics, Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-19-508319-9, Google Print, p.8 and Mark Abley, Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2003, ISBN 0-618-23649-X, Google Print, p.205
  12. MacQueen, Michael (2004). "Lithuanian Collaboration in the "Final Solution": Motivations and Case Studies" (PDF). Lithuania and the Jews The Holocaust Chapter. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
  13. KW (6 May 2016). "Piekło na Litwie (I) – Kurier Wileński". kurierwilenski.lt (in Polish). Retrieved 15 November 2022.

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