The View from the top: German soldiers and Lithuania in the two world wars

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Antrasis pasaulinis karas, 1939-1945 (World War II); Kariai; Pasauliniai karai; Pirmasis pasaulinis karas, 1914-1918 (Didysis karas; World War I); Vokietija (Germany); Vokiečių okupacija; First World War; German occupation in Lithuania; Germany; Lithuania; Second World War; Soldiers; World wars.

ENDuring the First and Second World Wars, Lithuania became a battleground. German troops advancing eastwards crossed the country during spring and autumn 1915, as well as in June 1941. Having launched a counter-offensive, the Red Army re-entered Lithuanian territory in summer 1944. Both these battles and the periods of occupation gave many German soldiers the opportunity to become acquainted with Lithuania and its inhabitants. The following essay will present and evaluate the impressions which the German conquerors had of the land and its inhabitants. Above all, it will make use of contemporary press reports, documents and memoirs. Notwithstanding censorship and restrictions on the press, reporting-especially by the various press organisations and the newspapers distributed to the troops-mirrored the opinions and beliefs of many of the Germans who entered the land. In order to guarantee their credibility, the newspapers distributed to soldiers had to rely on reports which seemed realistic based on their own views. This analysis is connected to the observations of Gabriel Vejas Liulevicius who, in his book War Lands on the Eastern Front, made plain how clearly the Germans staffing the administration and the army during the First World War understood themselves to be the representatives of a superior culture and tutors for the indigenous people, such that their goals went far beyond pure administration and the land’s exploitation. Although Liulevicius only discusses the similarities and parallels with the German occupation of 1941-44 towards the end of his book, the comparison is of central importance. [Extract, p. 211]