Ypatingasis burys
Encyclopedia
Ypatingasis būrys or Special SD and German Security Police Squad ' onMouseout='HidePop("55583")' href="/topics/Ponary_massacre">Ponary
riflemen" in Polish) (1941–1944) was a Nazi killing squad of approximately 50 men, also called the "Lithuanian equivalent of Sonderkommando
", operating in the Vilnius Region
. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers was formed by the German occupational government and was subordinate to Einsatzkommando 9 and later to Sicherheitsdienst
(SD) and Sicherheitspolizei
(Sipo). There are different estimates regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian Czesław Michalski estimates that it grew from base of 50 while Tadeusz Piotrowski
asserts about that there were 100 volunteers at its onset. According to Michalski, after its initial creation at various times hundreds of people were its members. Arūnas Bubnys
states that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men. 118 names are known, 20 of the members have been punished. Together with German police the squad participated in the Ponary massacre
, where about 100,000 Polish Jews and Poles
were murdered.
The first mention of the name of the Vilnian Special Squad, is from documents dated July 15, 1941. The Special Squad (YB) began as police unit formed after Lithuania was occupied by Germany in 1941. Many were volunteers, particularly recruited from the former paramilitary
nationalistic Union of Lithuanian Riflemen organization. It was composed primarily of Lithuanians, although according to Lithuanian historian Bubnys, a few Russians and a few Poles served in it as well.
The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no autonomy. Amongst the original organizers of the squad were junior lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. After July 23, 1941, the commanding officer was Juozas Šidlauskas. Squad members were issued Soviet weapons and white armbands and were used as guards and to move Jews from their apartments to the Ghetto
. In November 1941, lieutenant Balys Norvaiša, became the commander of the squad and his deputy was lieutenant Balys Lukošius. 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 Jonas Tumas. Some of the squad members were wearing uniforms of Lithuanian Army until in 1942 they were issued green SD
uniforms with Swastika
and skulls on caps. Squad members were also issued SD identity cards. YB was subordinate only to the German Security Police. Longest serving commander of YB was SS
man Martin Weiss. Weiss used to not only command executions but to kill victims personally. In 1943 Weiss was replaced by private Fiedler.
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 Paneriai
, Nemenčinė
, Naujoji Vilnia
, Varėna
, Jašiūnai
, Eišiškės
, Trakai
, Semeliškės
, and Švenčionys
.
YB also guarded the Gestapo
headquarters in Vilnius, the prison on present day Gediminas Avenue
, as well as the Paneriai base. When Germans closed Vilnius' monasteries in 1943, YB guarded their facilities until Germans removed the seized property. In 1943 YB performed far less 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.
From August 1943 YB was renamed to a Squad of 11th Battalion of Latvian Legion. 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 Kaunas
and stationed at Ninth Fort
. There YB guarded prison and before retreating killed 100 prisoners. Then YB was moved to Stutthof
, escorted Jews to Toruń
. It stayed there until April 1944, when received orders to convoy Jews to Bydgoszcz. 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.
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). 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, during the war using a Lithuanized version of his name, Jonas Barkauskas), the other two of mixed Polish–Lithuanian ethnicity (Władysław Butkun aka Vladas Butkunas and Józef Miakisz aka Juozas Mikašius) and sentenced them to death – later commuted to 20 years imprisonment. Other YB members died after the war or lived abroad.
According to the Lithuanian historian Bubnys who cited the Polish historian Helena Pasierbska
, during 1941–1944, approximately 108 men were members of YB. Nonetheless 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.
Ponary massacre
The Ponary massacre was the mass-murder of 100,000 people, mostly Polish Jews, by German SD and SS and Lithuanian Nazi collaborators Sonderkommando collaborators...
riflemen" in Polish) (1941–1944) was a Nazi killing squad of approximately 50 men, also called the "Lithuanian equivalent of Sonderkommando
Sonderkommando
Sonderkommandos were work units of Nazi death camp prisoners, composed almost entirely of Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber victims during The Holocaust...
", operating in the Vilnius Region
Vilnius region
Vilnius Region , refers to the territory in the present day Lithuania, that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time,...
. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers was formed by the German occupational government and was subordinate to Einsatzkommando 9 and later to Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
(SD) and Sicherheitspolizei
Sicherheitspolizei
The Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...
(Sipo). There are different estimates regarding the size of the unit. Polish historian Czesław Michalski estimates that it grew from base of 50 while Tadeusz Piotrowski
Tadeusz Piotrowski (sociologist)
Tadeusz Piotrowski or Thaddeus Piotrowski is a Polish-American sociologist. He is a Professor of Sociology in the Social Science Division of the University of New Hampshire at Manchester in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he lives....
asserts about that there were 100 volunteers at its onset. According to Michalski, after its initial creation at various times hundreds of people were its members. Arūnas Bubnys
Arunas Bubnys
Arūnas Bubnys is a Lithuanian historian and archivist. He started his studies at Vilnius University in 1985. In 1993 he received a Ph.D for the thesis Lietuvių antinacinė rezistencija 1941–1944 m. ....
states that it never exceeded a core of forty or fifty men. 118 names are known, 20 of the members have been punished. Together with German police the squad participated in the Ponary massacre
Ponary massacre
The Ponary massacre was the mass-murder of 100,000 people, mostly Polish Jews, by German SD and SS and Lithuanian Nazi collaborators Sonderkommando collaborators...
, where about 100,000 Polish Jews and Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
were murdered.
History
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
nationalistic Union of Lithuanian Riflemen organization. It was composed primarily of Lithuanians, although according to Lithuanian historian Bubnys, a few Russians and a few Poles served in it as well.
The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no autonomy. Amongst the original organizers of the squad were junior lieutenants Jakubka and Butkus. After July 23, 1941, the commanding officer was Juozas Šidlauskas. Squad members were issued Soviet weapons and white armbands and were used as guards and to move Jews from their apartments to the Ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
. In November 1941, lieutenant Balys Norvaiša, became the commander of the squad and his deputy was lieutenant Balys Lukošius. 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 Jonas Tumas. Some of the squad members were wearing uniforms of Lithuanian Army until in 1942 they were issued green SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
uniforms with Swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
and skulls on caps. Squad members were also issued SD identity cards. YB was subordinate only to the German Security Police. Longest serving commander of YB was SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
man Martin Weiss. Weiss used to not only command executions but to kill victims personally. In 1943 Weiss was replaced by private Fiedler.
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 Paneriai
Paneriai
Paneriai is a neighborhood of Vilnius, situated about 10 kilometres away from the city center. It is the largest elderate in the Vilnius city municipality. It is located on low forested hills, on the Vilnius-Warsaw road...
, Nemenčinė
Nemencine
Nemenčinė is a city in Vilnius district municipality, Lithuania, it is located about north-east of Vilnius.-Names:Nemenčinė is the original name of the city reflected in historical documents and still in use today. It derives from a Lithuanian word referring to the river Nemenčia...
, Naujoji Vilnia
Naujoji Vilnia
Naujoji Vilnia is a neighborhood in eastern Vilnius, Lithuania situated along the banks of the Vilnia River. It has eldership status. The district has a population of about 32,800...
, Varėna
Varena
Varėna is a city in Dzūkija, Lithuania.-History:The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, south of Sena Varėna . At that time it was a small settlement, but following steady development it eventually became the center of the district in 1950. In the interbellum...
, Jašiūnai
Jašiūnai
Jašiūnai is a town in Lithuania. It is situated on the Merkys River and an edge of the Rūdninkai Forest . According to the 2001 census, it had population of 1,879. The town's populations is primarily Polish , with Russian and Lithuanian minorities.-History:The town was first mentioned in written...
, Eišiškės
Eišiškes
Eišiškės ) is a city in southeastern Lithuania on the border with Belarus. It is situated on a small group of hills, surrounded by marshy valley of Verseka and Dumblė Rivers. Rivers divide the town into two parts; the northern part is called Jurzdika. As of January 2008, Eišiškės had a population...
, Trakai
Trakai
Trakai is a historic city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies 28 km west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. Trakai is the administrative centre of Trakai district municipality. The town covers 11.52 km2 of...
, Semeliškės
Semeliškės
Semeliškės is a town in Elektrėnai municipality, Vilnius County, east Lithuania. According to the 2001 census, the town has a population of 660 people. The town has a church of Catholics and Orthodox church of St. Nicolas....
, and Švenčionys
Švencionys
Švenčionys is a city located north of Vilnius in Lithuania. It is the capital of the Švenčionys district municipality. As of 2005, it had population of 5,658 of which about one-third is part of the Polish minority in Lithuania.- Name :...
.
YB also guarded the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
headquarters in Vilnius, the prison on present day Gediminas Avenue
Gediminas Avenue
Gediminas Avenue is the main street of Vilnius, where most of the governmental institutions of Lithuania are concentrated, including the government, parliament, Constitutional Court and ministries...
, as well as the Paneriai base. When Germans closed Vilnius' monasteries in 1943, YB guarded their facilities until Germans removed the seized property. In 1943 YB performed far less 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.
From August 1943 YB was renamed to a Squad of 11th Battalion of Latvian Legion. 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 Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
and stationed at Ninth Fort
Ninth Fort
The Ninth Fort is a stronghold in the northern part of Šilainiai elderate, Kaunas, Lithuania. It is a part of the Kaunas Fortress, which was constructed in the late 19th century. During the occupation of Kaunas and the rest of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, the fort was used as a prison and...
. There YB guarded prison and before retreating killed 100 prisoners. Then YB was moved to Stutthof
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
, escorted Jews to Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
. It stayed there until April 1944, when received orders to convoy Jews to Bydgoszcz. 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.
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). 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, during the war using a Lithuanized version of his name, Jonas Barkauskas), the other two of mixed Polish–Lithuanian ethnicity (Władysław Butkun aka Vladas Butkunas and Józef Miakisz aka Juozas Mikašius) and sentenced them to death – later commuted to 20 years imprisonment. Other YB members died after the war or lived abroad.
According to the Lithuanian historian Bubnys who cited the Polish historian Helena Pasierbska
Helena Pasierbska
Helena Pasierbska-Wojtowicz is a Polish writer. Born in Wilno , member of Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego.During the Second World War she joined the Polish resistance organization and served as a curier and nurse. Took part in the Operation Ostra Brama...
, during 1941–1944, approximately 108 men were members of YB. Nonetheless 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.
See also
- The HolocaustThe HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
- The Holocaust in Poland
- Holocaust in Nazi-occupied LithuaniaHolocaust in Nazi-occupied LithuaniaThe Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Lithuania resulted in the near total destruction of Lithuanian Jews living in the Nazi-controlled Lithuanian territories...
- Lithuanian Security PoliceLithuanian Security PoliceThe Lithuanian Security Police, also referred to as Saugumas , was a Lithuanian Nazi collaborationist police force that operated from 1941 to 1944. It had a staff of approximately 400 people, 250 of them in Kaunas and around another 130 in Vilnius....
External links
- Chronicles of the Vilna Ghetto: wartime photographs & documents – vilnaghetto.com
- Can Lithuania face its Holocaust past? – Excerpts from lecture given by Dr. Efraim ZuroffEfraim ZuroffEfraim Zuroff is an Israeli historian of American origin, who has played a role in bringing Nazis indicted for war crimes to trial...
, Director of the Wiesenthal Center, Jerusalem, at the conference on “Litvaks in the World,” August 28, 2001.