Algirdas Klimaitis

[Grellber]

The Lithuanian often referred as Jonas Klimaitis. Who was he relly. History... He is referred to in documents relating to the first days of the german entry in Lithuania an so called "spontanous progroms by locals". What did he do during the rest of the war? How did he end up in Germany (Where some sources state he was spotted) Did he go to court? etc. etc.

[David Thompson]

Grellber -- Please give your sources for our readers.

[Grellber]

Sorry, my main source is this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algirdas_Klimaitis

There doesn´t seem to much else around, but in the link to Stahlecker I´ve seen in some alleged statement from S to his supervisors, stating that it was more difficult than anticipated to start progroms in both Latvia and Lithuania, but that Klimaitis was one contact out of few that went along and created "progroms". (Can not recall the exact source though, been surfing a lot in this guy K the last coupple of weeks).

[David Thompson]

Thanks, Grellber -- You can see Stahlecker's comments at:

Comprehensive Report of Combat Group A up to 10/15/1941
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=60197

[Grellber]

Perfect, so here is a link to a version of the doc where S stated that he managed to recruit Klimaitis.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jso ... altic.html

But then again... Where is more info re. Klimiaitis?

[David Thompson]

We don't have much here, other than this: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 551#691551

[Grellber]

I´m pasting some other posts as they relates to Klimaitis.

1:st is in a post from the "Einsatzkommando" -thread
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 12 July 4, 1941
Quote:
EK 1b
Location July 4, 1941: Kaunas
Only insignificant destruction in Kaunas. Strong sniper activity, particularly in the area of Tauroggen.
Stapo Tilsit has so far carried out 200 shootings. Lithuanians have less trust in Lithuanian ambassador Skirza in Berlin (under house arrest in Berlin, as already reported) than in General Rastikis. The latter is very popular.
2 groups of partisans (1) in Kaunas:
(a) under leadership of Klimaitis, 600 men, mainly civilian workers
(b) under leadership of the physician Dr. Zigonys, about 200 men

Second is from http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... t=lietukis

1. `Initially difficult to set a pogrom in motion' Report by Stahlecker, head of Einsatzgruppe A:In Kaunas four fairly large groups of partisans had formed with whom the advance party had immediately established contact. These groups had not been organized under one coherent leadership. Instead, each group tried to gain superiority over the others and to enter into closer association with the Wehrmacht so that they would be included in a military operation against the Soviet army and as a result the dominant group would be able to capitalize on the changes in the government of Lithuania and thus be able to form a new [Lithuanian] army. Whilst for political reasons military deployment of the partisans could not be considered, within a short time a 300-strong auxiliary group fit for action was formed from the reliable members of the undisciplined partisan groups under the leadership of the Lithuanian journalist Klimatis. This group, as it proved itself satisfactory, was deployed not only in Kaunas itself but also in numerous parts of Lithuania where it performed its duties, in particular preparation of and participation in the execution of large liquidation actions, under the constant supervision of the Einsatzkommando with no significant problems.

Continues...

In Lithuania this goal was achieved for the first time in Kaunas through the deployment of partisans. It was initially surprisingly difficult to set a fairly large-scale pogrom in motion there. The leader of the above-mentioned partisan group, Klimatis, who was the first to be recruited, succeeded in starting a pogrom on the basis of instructions he had been given by the small advance party that had been deployed in Kovno without any German orders or incitement being discernible. During the first pogrom, in the night of 25/26 June, more then 1,500 Jews were eliminated by the Lithuanian partisans, several synagogues were set on fire or destroyed by other methods and a Jewish quarter of about sixty houses was burnt down. On following nights 2,300 Jews were rendered harmless in the same way. In other parts of Lithuania there were similar actions following the example of Kaunas, albeit on a smaller scale, but which included Communists that had remained in the area.

[Grellber]

From the Lithuanian DVD I´ve just watched:
25/6: Stahlecker meets Lithuanian nationalists at this date or later. Not before. He is supposed to have contacted Algirdas Jonas Klimaitis who was used by the germans as a signal man in connections with the partisans. Among others Klimaitis got contact with Kazys Simkus and Bronius Norkus. (Later, Klimaitis involvement in the garage incident could not be proven by German investigators).

[Grellber]

Source: http://tripatlas.com/Algirdas_Klimaitis

'Algirdas Klimaitis' (often referred as 'Jonas Klimaitis' in non-Lithuanian literature) was a Lithuanian journalist and military commander.
...
During the outbreak of the Operation Barbarossa, he formed a military unit of roughly 600 members and engaged in the battles with Soviet army for the control of Kaunas. On the evening of June 23, most of the city was in the hands of insurgents [1]. This unit was not subordinate to the Lithuanian Activist Front or the Provisional Government of Lithuania [2]. On the night from 25-26 June, instigated by Nazi Security Police (Sipo) and SD (Sicherheitsdienst or Security Service, the intelligence arm of the Nazi Party), the unit started pogroms of Jews. By 28 June, 1941, according to SS Brigadeführer Franz Walter Stahlecker, 3800 people were killed in Kaunas and further 1200 in other towns of the region . Numbers of victims in Stahlecker's report are probably exaggerated but pogroms indeed have happened . Algirdas Klimaitis was eventually discovered living in Hamburg, Germany in the 1980s. Klimaitis died at the old age in Germany.
....
http://www.genocid.lt/Leidyba/13/bubnys.htm

More.. Tis time from source: http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bi ... lt-l&P=797

The Lithuanian have failed to explain and explore the Kaunas massacre of June 26, 1941. They allowed the chief participant in the massacre Klimaitis die without giving his version of the event.

The following may be of interest. It comes from "The Lithuanian National Revolt" by Algirdas Martin Budreckis, Lithuanian Encyclopedia Press, Boston 1968, pages 62 and 63.

I attempted to clean up the scan, but there may be some errors left in the text. The use of words "program" and "pogrom" in paragraph 5 has been checked against the book. LAF means The Lithuanian Activist Front.

Andris Prieditis
---------------------------------------- Extracts from book:
(...) The Einsatzkommando attempted to induce local anti-Semitic forces to start pogroms against the Jews. This proved to be difficult. Nevertheless, the German Security Police (SD) tried to show the world that the native population itself took the first step against the Jews. (19)
The "Report of Einsatzgruppe A up to October 15, 1941" by SS
Brigade-leader Stahlecker cites the formation of a "native exterminators unit." Stahlecker wrote: "It was possible in a short time to form a Hilfstrupp of 300, under the leadership of the journalist Klimaitis. This collaborating group operates not only in Kaunas, but also in many places in Lithuania, and among its duties is the preparation for carrying out great acts of liquidation under the supervision of the Einsatzkommando." (20)

This report exaggerated the actual size of this detachment of Lithuanian renegades. Actually, the group numbered some fifty men, who, after being tortured in Soviet prisons for the most part by Communist agents of Jewish background and not being oriented as to the policies of the LAF, fell easy prey to German schemes. Being brutalized by the Soviet prisons, it was no wonder that they craved revenge. The Germans provided them with a scapegoat -- the Jews of Kaunas. The leader of this group was Klimaitis (not Klimatis), a young hotheaded neurotic.

Stahlecker's Report contains the following scheme to shift the blame for German genocide practices on the local populace:

"Instigation of self-cleansing actions -- to our surprise it was not easy at first to set in motion an extensive program against Jews. Klimatis [sic], the leader of the partisan band mentioned above was used for this purpose primarily; he succeeded in starting a program on the basis of advice given to him by a small advance detachment (Einsatzkommando unit) acting in Kowno, and such a way that no German order or German instigation was noticed from the outside. During the first pogrom in the night from 25 to 26 June, the Lithuanian "partisans" did away with more than 1,500 Jews, set fire to several synagogues or destroyed them by other means, and burned down a Jewish dwelling district consisting of about 60 houses. During following nights about 2,300 Jews were made harmless in a similar way. In other parts of Lithuania similar actions followed the example of Kowno, though smaller and extending to the Communists who were left behind." (21)

Again for some unknown reason, Stahlecker exaggerates his statistics. The account by L. Shauss to the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission stated that in "the first pogrom on June 25-26, in the Kaunas suburb of Slobodka (Vilijampole), 600 Jews were killed on Arbarski, Paverski, Vilyuski, Irogalski streets. (22)

Nonetheless, the activities of Klimaitis detachment were a disgrace to the Lithuanians. Upon hearing that Klimaitis was to start a pogrom in Vilijampole suburb on June 25, the LAF staff in Kaunas unsuccessfully attempted to stop him. Later, the Lithuanian Provisional Government detailed Generals Reklaitis and Pundzevicius of the LAF Defense Committee to confer with him.
Wearing a Lithuanian flag draped across his chest, Klimaitis met the two former Lithuanians generals and unsuccessfully attemped to justify his actions. The generals succeeded in convincing this upstart that his actions were darkening the Lithuanian name and that he was doing the Nazis' dirty work for them.

[stcamp]

From the Lithuanian DVD I´ve just watched:
25/6: Stahlecker meets Lithuanian nationalists at this date or later. Not before. He is supposed to have contacted Algirdas Jonas Klimaitis who was used by the germans as a signal man in connections with the partisans. Among others Klimaitis got contact with Kazys Simkus and Bronius Norkus. (Later, Klimaitis involvement in the garage incident could not be proven by German investigators).

Hi,

What Lithuanian DVD?

Thanks,

Steve

[David Thompson]

stcamp asked:

What Lithuanian DVD?

Steve -- See http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 7#p1165977 by Lit and http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 1#p1177021 by Grellber for descriptions. The link to the DVD set referred to in the posts is http://www.patogupirkti.lt/book/book.as ... D-ARCHYVAI

[stcamp]

Thanks!

[Grellber]

Well, time has passed and I´ve kept looking. Getting more and more amazed that there is so very little info on this guy. Most astonishing is that so many historians / Writers are referring to the German report which mentiones him as a central figure.

Just finished reading Raul Hillbergs Perpetrators, victims and bystanders. Om page 98 he writes: "One group, specifically mentioned by the german security police, concisted of about laborers under the command of of a journalist, Jionas Klimaitis (57). With security police encouragement, this group killed about thirty-eight hundred jews in Kaunas and twelve hundred in other towns (58). The pertisans in the Kaunas area were soon disbaned by the military. "Reliable" men were selected from their ranks and formed into five police companies
Note 57: Reich Security Main Office IV-A-I, Operational Report No 12, July 4, 1941. Nuremberg trials document NO-4529.
Note 58: Reich Security Main Office IV-A-I, Operational Report No 8, June 30, 1941. Nuremberg trials document NO-4543. Report by the Commander of Einsatzgruppe A (Stahlecker), October 15, 1941. Nuremberg trials document L-180.

So... same info again even in somewhat different format. There MUST be stuff in Russian or Lithuanian.
Please help out.

[Grellber]

I doubt that it is correct, but I saw somewhere that the name Klimaitis should equal Klimavicius. If so there is info on such a "Jonas" here:

http://openjurist.org/847/f2d/28/united ... limavicius

Quote: "Klimavicius was born on August 29, 1907, in Marijampole, Lithuania. He entered the United States on May 14, 1949, from West Germany under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, ch. 647, Pub.L. 774, 62 Stat. 1009. Klimavicius continues to reside in the United States. On May 30, 1984, the Office of Special Investigations in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (OSI) filed a complaint against Klimavicius under Section 340(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1451(a), charging illegal procurement of citizenship. The complaint alleges that during the German occupation of Lithuania, in the fall of 1941, Klimavicius was a member of a Nazi controlled police battalion, the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft. The complaint further alleges that as a member of the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft, Klimavicius "assisted in the persecution of Jews and other civilians by detaining and murdering unarmed civilians." The government charges that Klimavicius concealed his membership in the Schutzmannschaft and misrepresented his wartime activities to obtain his United States visa and citizenship.

I assume it is not the same person as Klimaitis. Can anybody confirm?

[Grellber]

Klimaitis died in Hamburg 29-8-1988 according to Cristoph Dieckmann and Saulius suziedelis "the persecution... )