Holokaustas Lietuvoje: 1941 m. birželio 25-29 d. žydų pogromai Kaune

LTTyrimo objektas - Holokaustas Lietuvoje (1941-1944 m.). Tikslas - remiantis prieinamais archyviniais dokumentais ir istorine literatūra realizuoti straipsnyje suformuluotus uždavinius, susijusius su Kaune 1941 m. birželio 25-29 d. vykusių žydų pogromų tema. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Holokaustas; Lietuva; Kaunas; Žydų pogromai; Genocidas; Organizacija „Geležinis vilkas“; Vokiečiai; Naciai. Keywords: Holocaust; Lithuania; Kaunas; Jewish pogroms; Genocide; Organization Iron Wolf; Germans; Nazis.

ENAnti-Jewish pogroms in Kaunas on 25-29 June, 1941 is a constituent part of the first stage of the genocide of Lithuanian Jews, which covers the period between the end of June and the beginning of August, 1941. On the 25th of June, when the pogroms started, the uprising in Kaunas had just come to an end (in other locations of Lithuania it was still taking place). On the same day the armed forces of the 16th army of Army Group North marched into Kaunas, the 812 Field Commandants Office was established. The establishment of the German military administration meant that the functions of the highest authorities that had been carried out until that time, i. e., for a very short time, by the Provisional Government of Lithuania, fell into its hands. The Germans recognised neither the Provisional Government of Lithuania nor Lithuania’s independence declared, and they treated the local administrative authorities that were started to be re-established during the uprising as subordinate to them. The Commander (Brigadfiirer) of the SS security forces and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Operational Group A Walter Franz Stahlecker was considered to be the main organiser of the anti-Jewish pogroms in Kaunas. He was obligated to undertake such activities by the instructions of the SS (protection squadron) Chief Heinrich Himmler and the Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, or RSHA).Reinhard Heydrich issued in Berlin on 17 June, 1941, which stated that no obstacles should be created in the occupied region to those who wanted to purge of Communists and Jews, that they should be encouraged without leaving any traces. Partly the fact that partisan rebels who were active in different locations in Lithuania during the June 1941 uprising started to persecute and arrest Jews, Lithuanians and people of other nationalities who were suspected of having supported the soviet regime, was also favourable to him. In the city of Kaunas, such arrests intensified greatly on the 24th of June, i. e., after the struggles against the Red Army men, supporters of the Soviet regime, were over. Walter Franz Stahlecker was sure that he would manage to direct these processes so that it would be possible to solve the “problem of Lithuanian Jews” according to the scenario that was beneficial for him. The pogroms that he initiated and that took place in Kaunas on 25-29 June, 1941 could be regarded as a parallel to the above-mentioned events. Pogroms were made up of the small pogroms (small groups of Jews, for example, five people were killed), two larger scale pogroms, i.e., massacres in Vilijampolė (25-27 June, 1941) and in Lietūkis garage (27 June,1941). When organising pogroms, Walter Franz Stahlecker made use of the disagreements and discords that existed in society. He managed to use the following people who were close to the Geležinis vilkas (Iron Wolf) organisation: Algirdas Jonas Klimaitis, officers Major Kazys Šimkus and Colonel Bronius Norkus. They agreed to cooperate partly because many supporters of Voldemaras were discontent with the consequences of the uprising though they themselves approved of the uprising and were its participants.They were not satisfied with the fact that power did not rest with their group. They thought that individuals who were oriented towards Christian democratic ideology had become firmly established in the Provisional Government, the administration, and they would not carry out their program, and that they, the supporters of Voldemaras, were ideologically closer to the Germans than were their opponents. They were ready to fight for power, and most probably they regarded Walter Franz Stahlecker and other officials of the occupying power as a means to achieve their goals. On the other hand, antisemitism, readiness to cooperate with the Third Reich was characteristic of the supporters of Voldemaras. Through Algirdas Jonas Klimaitis, officers Major Kazys Šimkus and Colonel Bronis Norkus and other individuals, Walter Franz Stahlecker had forces, that is, executors of the pogroms, a total of 300 people, in his disposition. Most probably these were partisans who oriented themselves towards the Geležinis vilkas organisation, who were inclined to isolate themselves from the Government and the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF). They accounted for 8.83 per cent of the total number of the partisans (3396) who operated in the city of Kaunas and in the country. Members of Algirdas Jonas Klimaitis’ platoon were participants in the small pogroms that took place in Vilijampolė and Lietūkis garage. However, no evidence that would directly describe personal actions of Klimatis as an executor of the pogroms have survived. Officers Major Kazys Šimkus and Colonel Bronius Norkus are related to the participation in the pogrom in Vilijampolė, however, no direct evidence which would specifically characterise their actions during the pogrom have survived either. One can judge about their actions as participants in the pogroms only from the nature of the course of the pogroms. [...]. [From the publication]