lithuanian waffen ss

ninoo · Post by **ninoo** » 13 Apr 2004 06:44

Dear Friends,

Although there were thousands Lithuanians joined with the Waffen-SS, I never know about Waffen-SS Lithuanian unit. Is there the unit exist?
If didn't, was the reason because Himmler didn't trust them and despised them as the lowliest of the Baltics? Or only because the tide of war?

Regards

Bless the people who like to help others.

http://stosstruppen39-45.tripod.com
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Askold · Post by **Askold** » 13 Apr 2004 23:10

Actually only very few number of Lithuanians volunteered for Waffen SS. Out of the three Baltic states, Lithuanians were the most nationaly-soncious and would not collaborate with Germans. Seeing that any attempts to form Lithuanian SS failed, the Germans blaimed this on university professors/intelligencia, which they started executing. As this did not help the situation at all, Germans began to make some changes, by trying to make a volunteer formation as "Lithuanian" as possible. Thus the idea of Lith. SS was abandoned, and instead TAR (Lithuanian Territorial Corps) was proclaimed. I believed there was around 40.000 members in that organization, however, it got dissolved towards the end of the war.

Hope this helps

P.S. Nice site. Looking forward seeing your Ukrainian section.

ninoo · Post by **ninoo** » 14 Apr 2004 02:14

Thanks a lot for your infos.
Hope U don't mind if I use some materials from your great 'Galicia' site for the article.

Best Regards,

Nino

Bless the people who like to help others.

Askold · Post by **Askold** » 14 Apr 2004 18:55

No problems, as long as you mention where you took the info.

Good luck

ninoo · Post by **ninoo** » 15 Apr 2004 06:04

Thanks a million times my friend

Best regards,

Bless the people who like to help others.

Ostuf Charlemagne · Post by **Ostuf Charlemagne** » 20 Apr 2004 03:15

I have (or had ,he may be dead by now ...but maybe not ....) a friend ,Michael, who was lithuanian and served within the Waffen-SS in the Wiking division (he was also a former french foreign legion paratrooper and fought communism in Indochina ....) I meet him in France and we belonged both to the same association of former paratroopers ,24 years ago ...his sister lives in the USA were she was a police officer , 20 years ago ...

jarek_g · Post by **jarek_g** » 20 Apr 2004 11:07

Hi guys,
control link: http://www.lituanus.org/1986/86_4_02.htm

Bestreg.
Jarek

panzertruppe2001 · Post by **panzertruppe2001** » 22 Apr 2004 19:26

I read in a book "Waffen SS Los Soldados del Asfalto" (Waffen SS The Asphalt Soldiers) by John Keegan, that Himmler did not want lithuanian soldiers in Waffen SS because they were too much catholics (It was Himmlers opinion)

Ostuf Charlemagne · Post by **Ostuf Charlemagne** » 22 Apr 2004 22:08

I read John Keegan too ,and he writes a lot of non-sense...for instance what about the wallons who entered the SS along with their catholic military chaplains ? Same for the french division Charlemagne where their military chaplain Jean Mayol de Lupe was made an Obersturmbannfuehrer ..... and what about the spanish volunteers who were catholics too ... Fact : the germans wanted to from a lithuanian SS Legion ,but they got far too few volunteers . Period .

Allen Milcic · Post by **Allen Milcic** » 22 Apr 2004 22:31

I agree with Charlemagne - another example: when the Waffen SS "Handschar" Division was not able to raise the necessary number of Bosnian Muslim volunteers, the unit roster was filled with ethnic Croatian Roman Catholics.

Allen/

Panzermahn · Post by **Panzermahn** » 24 Apr 2004 11:27

Don't forget that the 14th SS Division Galicia demanded Greek Orthodox and Catholic chaplains for their spiritual needs and Himmler agreed

panzertruppe2001 · Post by **panzertruppe2001** » 24 Apr 2004 18:15

I only say what Himmler thought about lithuanians. Me and Keegan had not the fault if Himmler was incoherent

Lit. · Post by **Lit.** » 07 Jun 2004 18:35

ninoo wrote: Although there were thousands Lithuanians joined with the Waffen-SS, I never know about Waffen-SS Lithuanian unit.

How could you write 2 sentences that are opposite to each other?!

Due to heavy resistance of high-ranking officers and intellectuals Lithuania succeed in refusing to form Waffen-SS divisions.

But there were so-called Lithuanian self-defense police battalions („Litauische Schutzmannschaft Bataillon”) that were forced to fight in Eastern Front (with 16. Armee and 18. Armee): Stalingrad, Volkhov, Lake Ilmen, Demyansk Pocket, Opotschka, Kurland Kessel.

The most famous in combat were 7th battalion and its commander mjr. Jonas Semaska, who managed to breakthrough from Stalingrad Pocket. 400 Lithuanian soldiers reached Lithuania out of more than 700. 33 fighters received Iron Cross after this action. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein spontaneously decorated Jonas Semaska with his own...

ninoo · Post by **ninoo** » 08 Jun 2004 01:43

Hi,

How could you write 2 sentences that are opposite to each other?!

It's because although I found in some books, articles, and sites about 3-4,000 Lithuanians who served in the Waffen-SS, but I never found an Waffen-SS Lithuanian unit.

BTW, if the units like that was never exist, in what units the Lithuanians Waffen-SS served?

Best Regards

Bless the people who like to help others

Lit. · Post by **Lit.** » 08 Jun 2004 10:16

ninoo wrote:Hi,

It's because although I found in some books, articles, and sites about 3-4,000 Lithuanians who served in the Waffen-SS

Could you please name those “books, articles and sites”. I don't think it was reliable enough sources.
I better suggest to read such historians as Petras Stankeras and Arunas Bubnys together with “A History of the Lithuanian Military Forces in World War II 1939-1945” by Henry L. Gaidis. Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, Inc., Vydunas Fund, Inc. - Chicago, Illinois, 1998 m., 300 pages.

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