Misplaced Pages

#851148

81-606: RMK’s forestry duties include the growing and guarding of the state forest, planting and growing of new forest, organising forestry works and sale of timber. RMK maintains forest roads and drainage systems. In 2012, Estonia had forests that covered 48% of the land, and is an environment unique in Europe. However recent years have seen a substantial increase in logging, and logging occurs not only nationwide in private land, but even in supposedly protected national parks. Estonia needs to cut significantly less forest to retain biodiversity and meet

162-481: A failure of highly centralized resistance, as the organization was too dependent on Veverskis and other top commanders. In 1946 remaining leaders and fighters of LLA started to merge with Lithuanian partisans. In 1949 all members of presidium of Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters – captain Jonas Žemaitis-Tylius, Petras Bartkus-Žadgaila, Bronius Liesys-Naktis ir Juozas Šibaila-Merainis came from LLA. Supreme Committee for

243-797: A few grenades, usually saving one to blow themselves up to avoid being taken as prisoner, since the physical tortures of Soviet MGB/NKVD were very brutal and cruel , and to prevent their relatives from suffering. To combat the guerrillas, in May 1948 the Soviets carried out the largest deportation from Lithuania, Operation Spring , when some 40 to 50 thousand people associated with "forest brothers" were deported to Siberia. Captured Lithuanian Forest Brothers often faced torture and summary execution while their relatives faced deportation to Siberia (cf. quotation ). Reprisals against anti-Soviet farms and villages were harsh. NKVD units named People's Defense Platoons (known by

324-750: A movement hostile to the Government of the United States under Section 13 of the Displaced Persons Act, as amended. The Latvian government has asserted that the Latvian Legion , primarily composed of the 15th and 19th Latvian Waffen-SS divisions, was neither a criminal nor collaborationist organization. The ranks of the resistance swelled with the Red Army's attempts to conscript in the Baltic states after

405-574: A people who value their environment and wish to protect it, with national stories that integrate forests such as the partisan Forest Brothers ; or the traditional sacred trees, forests and groves; and exemplified in this quote by ex-president Lennart Meri : “Our natural environment… is unique in Europe. This is a resource we are not yet conscious of, that we more often than not still have to learn to use [and] we could make huge and incorrigible mistakes when looking for immediate profit. “Let us be masters in our own country, not avaricious colonists, who leave

486-533: A ravaged country behind them… The export of raw timber is a sign of a bad master. If we add the wasted felling areas and damaged ecosystem, we can see that there is not much left of our advantages.” -- the late Estonian president Lennart Meri in a speech on 24 February 2000 . RMK provides as varied opportunities as possible for recreation, while not harming the biota there. RMK builds hiking trails, maintains accommodation facilities, marks scenic recreational areas, and prepares camping sites and campfire places. Besides

567-642: A small pension. In Lithuania, the third Sunday in May is commemorated as Partisans' Day. In 2005 there were about 350 surviving Forest Brothers in Lithuania. By 2024, Ruuben Lambur  [ et ] (1925–2024) was the last Estonian Forest Brother still well enough to make public appearances. In a 2001 lecture in Tallinn, U.S. Senator John McCain acknowledged the Estonian Forest Brothers and their efforts. The Canadian film Legendi loojad (Creators of

648-498: A theory difficult to credit given the shallow water and lack of cover at the site. Another noted member of Forest Brothers, Kalev Arro , evaded capture by disguising himself as a vagrant while hiding in the forests of southern Estonia for 20 years. He was killed in a shooting encounter with KGB agents in 1974. There were numerous attempts to hunt down relatives of the Forest Brothers. An Estonian who managed to escape deportation

729-626: A wound on the left side, both testicles and spermatic ducts are missing. Juozas Lukša was among those who managed to escape to the West; he wrote his memoirs in Paris – Fighters for Freedom. Lithuanian Partisans Versus the U.S.S.R. , and was killed after returning to Lithuania in 1951. Pranas Končius (code name Adomas ) was one of the last few Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance fighters, killed in action by Soviet forces on July 6, 1965 (some sources indicate he shot himself in order to avoid capture on July 13). He

810-713: Is the best-known film portrayal of the conflict. The popular Soviet Latvian TV drama series Long Road in the Dunes (1980–1982) touches the topic of Latvian Forest Brothers from a Soviet perspective. German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II 1942 1943 1944 After the German invasion of the Soviet Union , the Baltic states were under military occupation by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. Initially, many Estonians , Latvians , and Lithuanians considered

891-581: The 20th Waffen-SS Division (1st Estonian) who wished to stay and defend their homes to do so – and in the fate of Army Group Courland , among the last of Hitler's forces to surrender after it became trapped in the Courland Pocket on the Courland Peninsula in 1945. Many Estonian and Latvian soldiers, and a few Germans, evaded capture and fought as Forest Brothers for years after the war. Others such as Alfons Rebane and Alfrēds Riekstiņš escaped to

SECTION 10

#1732875655852

972-587: The Chekists themselves waited outside. I told people to drive me away, as I had been sent by the security organs." In Latvia, preparations for partisan operations began during the German occupation, but the leaders of these nationalist units were arrested by Nazi authorities. Longer-lived resistance units began to form at the end of the war, composed of former Latvian Legion soldiers and civilians. On 8 September 1944 in Riga ,

1053-567: The Einsatzgruppen . The remainder of the Baltic peoples were deemed by the Nazis to be "a dying race" that needed to be "replaced by a more dynamic people", meaning Germans. The main Nazi plan for the colonization of conquered territories in the east, referred to as Generalplan Ost , called for the wholesale deportation of some two thirds of the native population from the territories of the Baltic states in

1134-685: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , all three Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, a move that the Western Allies deemed illegitimate. When Nazi Germany broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union , the Soviet Red Army was driven out of the Baltics and the area came under German military occupation . After the departure of Soviet troops from the region, formal independence to

1215-757: The Red Army , occupied the Baltic states in 1940, completing their occupation by 1941. After a period of German occupation during World War II, the Soviets reoccupied Lithuania from 1944 to 1945. As Soviet political repression intensified over the following years, tens of thousands of partisans from the Baltics began to use the countryside as a base for an anti-Soviet insurgency. According to some estimates, at least 50,000 partisans (10,000 in Estonia, 10,000 in Latvia and 30,000 in Lithuania) in addition to their supporters were involved in

1296-622: The 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD . By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population had been exterminated. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed. Latvia's population perished not only on the battlefield. During the years of Nazi occupation special campaigns exterminated 18,000 Latvians, approximately 70,000 Jews and 2,000 Gypsies – in total about 90,000 people. The Latvians among these were mostly civilians whose political convictions were unacceptable to

1377-635: The 31st anniversary of the February 16, 1918, declaration of independence, by elements of the resistance unified under the "Movement of the Struggle for the Freedom of Lithuania". ... a universal, organised, armed resistance namely, self-defence, by the Lithuanian State, did take place in Lithuania during 1944–1953, against the soviet occupation ... the goal ... was the liberation of Lithuania, relying upon

1458-511: The Baltic states was not restored by Germany. Meanwhile, Allied declarations such as the Atlantic Charter offered promise of a post-war world in which the three Baltic states could re-establish themselves. Having already experienced occupation by the Soviet regime then the Nazi regime, many people were unwilling to accept another occupation at the end of the war. Unlike Estonia and Latvia, where

1539-637: The British ( MI6 ), American and Swedish secret intelligence services. That support played a key role in directing the Baltic resistance movement, but it diminished significantly after MI6's Operation Jungle was severely compromised by the activities of British spies ( Kim Philby and others ) who forwarded information to the Soviets and enabled the MGB to identify, infiltrate and eliminate many Baltic guerrilla units and cut others off from any further contact with Western intelligence operatives. The conflict between

1620-592: The Catholic church. By the end of 1945, an estimated 30,000 armed people lived in the forests in Lithuania. The partisans were well-armed. During 1945–1951 Soviet repressive structures seized from partisans 31 mortars, 2,921 machine guns, 6,304 assault rifles, 22,962 rifles, 8,155 pistols, 15,264 grenades, 2,596 mines, and 3,779,133 cartridges. The partisans replenished their arsenal by killing istrebiteli , members of Soviet secret-police forces or by purchasing ammunition from Red Army soldiers. Every partisan had binoculars and

1701-468: The German occupation force. Jewish and Gypsy civilians were eliminated as a result of Nazi Germany's racial policy. Persecutions were mostly carried out by special German units (Einsatzgruppe A, Sicherheitsdienst , or SD) and police units. The German occupation regime attempted to involve the local population in war crimes. Thus, Latvian self-defence units, security police units, and SD auxiliary units were created and included volunteers who carried out part of

SECTION 20

#1732875655852

1782-596: The Germans conscripted the local population into military formations within the Waffen-SS , Lithuania never had a Waffen-SS division. In 1944, the German authorities created an ill-equipped but 20,000-man strong Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force under General Povilas Plechavičius to combat Soviet partisans led by Antanas Sniečkus . The Germans came to see this force as a nationalist threat to their occupation. Its senior staff were arrested on May 15, 1944, and Plechavičius

1863-537: The Germans evacuated 13,700 people from Estonia and 52,583 from Latvia, and resettled them in Polish territories incorporated into Nazi Germany. The following summer [1940], the Soviets occupied and illegally annexed all three states . On 22 June 1941 the Germans carried out Operation Barbarossa . The Soviets had already implemented sovietization earlier, including the first mass deportation on 14 June, just eight days earlier, so

1944-462: The Germans liberators from the Soviet Union. The Germans agreed to leave the Baltic states, except for Lithuania (which was later ceded in exchange for oil-rich regions of Poland), under the Soviet sphere of influence in the 1939 German–Soviet Pact . The Germans lacked concern for the fate of the Baltic states, and initiated the evacuation of the Baltic Germans . Between October and December 1939

2025-510: The Germans were perceived as liberators from the USSR and its repressions by most Estonians who hoped for the restoration of the country's independence, it was soon realized that they were merely another occupying power. Germans pillaged the country for the war effort and unleashed the Holocaust . Estonia was incorporated into the German province of Ostland . That made many Estonians unwilling to side with

2106-559: The Legend) about the Estonian Forest Brothers was released in 1963. The film was funded by donations from Estonians in exile. The 1966 Soviet drama film Nobody Wanted to Die ( Lithuanian : Niekas nenorėjo mirti ) by Soviet-Lithuanian film director Vytautas Žalakevičius shows the tragedy of the conflict in which "a brother goes against the brother." The film garnered Žalakevičius the USSR State Prize and international recognition, and

2187-514: The Liberation of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Vyriausiasis Lietuvos išlaisvinimo komitetas , VLIK), was created on November 25, 1943. VLIK published underground newspapers and agitated for resistance against Nazis. The Gestapo arrested the most influential members in 1944. After the reoccupation of Lithuania by the Soviets, VLIK moved to the West and set its goal as maintaining non-recognition of Lithuania's occupation and disseminating information from behind

2268-504: The Lithuanians as pl. stribai , from Russian : izstrebiteli – destroyers , i.e., the destruction battalions), used shock tactics such as displaying executed partisans' corpses in village courtyards to discourage further resistance. The report of a commission formed at a KGB prison a few days after the October 15, 1956, arrest of Adolfas Ramanauskas ("Vanagas"), chief commander of

2349-529: The Nazis to join the Finnish army to fight against the Soviet Union. The Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 ( soomepoisid – 'Boys of Finland') was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. 70,000 Estonians were recruited to the German armed forces (including Waffen-SS ). Most of them joined in 1944, when the threat of a new invasion of Estonia by the Red Army had become imminent and it was clear that Germany would not win

2430-515: The SS (2nd Latvian), was recruited with 15 other Latvians into a Nazi stay-behind unit at the close of the war. Escaping to the forest, the group, led by Krastiņš, avoided all contact with local residents and relatives, robbing trucks for money while simultaneously maintaining an apartment in the center of Riga for reconnaissance operations. At first they assassinated low-level Communist party managers, but later focused their efforts on attempting to assassinate

2511-523: The SS as enumerated in the preceding paragraph, who became or remained members of the organization with knowledge that it was being used for the commission of acts declared criminal by Article 6 of the Charter, or who were personally implicated as members of the organization in the commission of such crimes, excluding, however, those who were drafted into membership by the State in such a way as to give them no choice in

State Forest Management Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-515: The Soviet armed forces and the Forest Brothers lasted over a decade and cost at least 50,000 lives. Estimates of the number of fighters in each country vary. Misiunas and Taagepera estimate that figures reached 30,000 in Lithuania, between 10,000 and 15,000 in Latvia and 10,000 in Estonia. On the other hand, professor Heinrihs Strods, based on NKVD reports, claims that in 1945, 8,916 partisans were killed in Lithuania, 715 in Latvia and 270 in Estonia, which makes Lithuanian losses around 90%. Even though

2673-631: The Soviets from Tartu, behind the Rivers Pärnu – Emajõgi line. Thus they secured South Estonia under Estonian control by July 10. The NKVD murdered 193 people in Tartu Prison on their retreat on July 8. The German 18th Army crossed the Estonian southern border on July 7–9. The Germans resumed their advance in Estonia by working in cooperation with the Forest Brothers and the Omakaitse . In North Estonia,

2754-555: The Soviets were driven out from Estonia, German Army Group North disarmed all the Forest Brother and Omakaitse groups. Southern Estonian partisan units were yet again summoned in August 1941 under the name of Estonian Omakaitse. Members were initially selected from the closest circle of friends. Later, candidate members were asked to sign a declaration that they were not members of a Communist organization. Estonian Omakaitse relied on

2835-506: The USSR and thus ultimately succeed in achieving independence. By 10 July 1941, the German armed forces had occupied all of Latvia 's territory. Latvia became a part of Nazi Germany 's Reichskommissariat Ostland as the Province General of Latvia ( Generalbezirk Lettland ). Anyone who was disobedient to the German occupation regime or had co-operated with the Soviet regime was killed or sent to concentration camps. Immediately after

2916-643: The USSR. In Latvia an underground nationalist Central Council of Latvia was formed on 13 August 1943. An analogous body, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania , emerged on 25 November 1943. On 23 March 1944, the underground National Committee of the Estonian Republic was founded. After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Wehrmacht reached Estonia in July. Although initially

2997-461: The Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters, noted the following: The right eye is covered with haematoma, on the eyelid there are six stab wounds made, judging by their diameter, by a thin wire or nail going deep into the eyeball. Multiple haematomas in the area of the stomach, a cut wound on a finger of the right hand. The genitalia reveal the following: a large tear wound on the right side of the scrotum and

3078-680: The United Kingdom and Sweden and participated in Allied intelligence operations in aid of the Forest Brothers. While the Waffen-SS was found guilty of war crimes and other atrocities and declared a criminal organization after the war, the Nuremberg trials explicitly excluded conscripts in the following terms: The Tribunal declares to be criminal within the meaning of the Charter the group composed of those persons who had been officially accepted as members of

3159-497: The Wood" and the "Forest Friars" ( Estonian : metsavennad , Latvian : mežabrāļi , Lithuanian : žaliukai ), these partisans fought against invading Soviet forces during their occupation of the Baltic states during and after World War II . Similar insurgent groups resisted Soviet occupations in Bulgaria , Poland , Romania and Ukraine . Soviet forces, consisting primarily of

3240-454: The areas to be abandoned on July 3. About 10,000 Forest Brothers, organized into countrywide Omakaitse (Home Guard) organizations, attacked the NKVD , destruction battalions and the 8th Army (Major General Ljubovtsev), killing 4,800 and capturing 14,000. The battle of Tartu lasted for two weeks, and destroyed a large part of the city. Under the leadership of Friedrich Kurg, the Forest Brothers drove

3321-510: The armed fighters while the organizational sector was tasked with passive resistance , including supply of food, information, and transport to Vanagai . In the middle of 1944, the LLA had 10,000 members. The Soviets killed 659 and arrested 753 members of the LLA by January 26, 1945. Founder Kazys Veverskis was killed in December 1944, and the headquarters was liquidated in December 1945. This represented

State Forest Management Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-413: The biodiversity of Estonian rivers. The RMK was established in 1999. Forest Brothers [REDACTED]   Soviet Union ~13,000 Soviet fatalities: The guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an insurgency waged by Baltic ( Latvian , Lithuanian and Estonian ) partisans against the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1956. Known alternatively as the " Forest Brothers ", the "Brothers of

3483-634: The brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 did not bring about an intervention by, or a supportive response from, Western Powers, organized resistance in the Baltic States declined further. As the conflict was relatively undocumented by the Soviet Union (the Baltic fighters were formally charged as common criminals), some consider it and the Soviet-Baltic conflict as a whole to be an unknown or forgotten war. Discussion of resistance

3564-511: The campaigns against them. Many of the remaining Forest Brothers laid down their weapons when offered an amnesty by the Soviet authorities after Stalin's death in 1953, although isolated engagements continued into the 1960s. The last individual guerrillas are known to have remained in hiding and evaded capture into the 1980s, by which time the Baltic states were pressing for independence through peaceful means. (See Sąjūdis , The Baltic Way , Singing Revolution ) Many Forest Brothers persisted in

3645-527: The collapse of the Russian Empire . The ideals of nationalism and self-determination had taken hold with many people as a result of the independence of Estonia and Latvia for the first time since the 13th century. Lithuanians re-established a sovereign state with a rich former history, the largest country in Europe during the 14th century, occupied by the Russian Empire since 1795 . In the aftermath of

3726-613: The consolidation of Soviet rule through ambush, sabotage, assassination of local Communist activists and officials, freeing imprisoned guerrillas and printing underground newspapers. On 1 July 1944, Lithuanian Liberty Army (LLA) declared the state of war against the Soviet occupation and ordered all its able members to mobilize into platoons, station in forests and not to leave Lithuania. The departments were replaced by two sectors – operational, called Vanagai (Hawks or Falcons; abbreviated VS), and organizational (abbreviated OS). Vanagai , commanded by Albinas Karalius (codename Varenis), were

3807-500: The country's carbon sequestration goal, but it is increasing, and in 2022 the State Forest Management Center reported a record profit of 1.4 billion euros. The European Commission has launched a court case against Estonia for logging forest in protected areas, causing the country to risk a 100,000 euro per day fine. Some NGOs are also taking the country to court. In addition, several Estonian news outlets have reported

3888-447: The country: 38,000 volunteers jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly-formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war Estonia would be able to attract Western support for the cause of Estonia's independence from

3969-466: The course of the war, the main thrust of Nazi racial policies was directed against the Jews, not so much the majority Baltic peoples. Towards the end of the war, once it became clear that Germany would be defeated, many Balts and Estonians joined the Germans once again. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war the Baltic countries would be able to attract Western support for the cause of independence from

4050-512: The creation of recreational opportunities, RMK also provides education about the natural environment. RMK’s plant and seed management area grows tree sets and ensures Estonia has a sufficient reserve of forest seed. RMK consists of Sagadi Forest Centre, Elistvere Animal Park and, as of 2014, also the Põlula Fish Farm. One to two year old juvenile salmon are grown in Põlula, in order to increase

4131-422: The destruction battalions had the greatest impact, being the last Baltic territory captured from the Soviets. The joint Estonian-German forces took Narva on August 17 and the Estonian capital Tallinn on August 28. On that day, the red flag shot down earlier on Pikk Hermann was replaced with the flag of Estonia by Fred Ise only to be replaced yet again by a German Reichskriegsflagge a few hours later. After

SECTION 50

#1732875655852

4212-555: The event of a German victory. The remaining third were either to be exterminated in situ , used as slave labour , or Germanized if deemed sufficiently " Aryan ", while hundreds of thousands of German settlers were to be moved into the conquered territories. As Adolf Hitler explained in a conference on 16 July 1941, the Baltic states were to be annexed to Germany at the earliest possible moment, and some Nazi ideologists suggested renaming Estonia as Peipusland and Latvia as Dünaland and integrating them as German provinces. During

4293-423: The face of the Red Army 's advance in 1944. Furthermore, Nazi Germany rejected the recreation of the Baltic states in any form in the future, as it unilaterally declared itself the legal successor to all three of the Baltic countries, as well as the Soviet Union, which it expected would collapse due to the German invasion. Germans immediately initiated anti-Jewish persecution by deploying its mobile death squads,

4374-399: The forest brothers of this era either as peasants revolting or as schoolteachers seeking refuge in the forest. The term Forest Brothers was used and known only in occupied Estonia and Latvia. In Lithuania partisans were called žaliukai (Green People), miškiniai (Forest People) or just partizanai (partisans). Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained their independence in 1918 after

4455-462: The former regulations of Estonian Defence League and Estonian Army , insofar as they were consistent with the laws of German occupation. The tasks of the Omakaitse were as follows: On 15 July, the Omakaitse had 10,200 members; on 1 December 1941, 40,599 members. Until February 1944 membership was around 40,000. By the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the Forest Brothers were provided with supplies, liaison officers and logistical coordination by

4536-568: The head of the Latvian SSR , Vilis Lācis . The group recruited a Russian woman working at the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR who told them Lācis' transportation schedule. They set up a roadside ambush when Lācis was traveling from Riga to Jūrmala , but shot up the wrong car. The second attempt likewise relied on a female collaborator, who proved to be an undercover NKVD agent. The entire group

4617-424: The hope that Cold War hostilities between the West, which never formally recognized the Soviet occupation , and the Soviet Union might escalate to an armed conflict in which the Baltic states would be liberated. This never materialized, and according to Mart Laar many of the surviving former Forest Brothers remained bitter that the West did not take on the Soviet Union militarily. (See also Yalta Conference ). When

4698-598: The installation of German authority (the beginning of July 1941) a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula . The killings were committed by Einsatzgruppe A , the Wehrmacht and Marines (in Liepāja ), as well as by Latvian collaborators , including the 500–1,500 members of the infamous Sonderkommando Arajs (or Arajs Kommando ), which alone killed around 26,000 Jews and

4779-420: The insurgency. The partisans continued to carry out an armed struggle until 1956, when the superiority of the Soviet security forces, largely in the form of secret agents which infiltrated the partisan groups, caused the Baltic population to change tactics and use other forms of resistance. The term Forest Brothers first came into use in the Baltic region in the 1905 Russian Revolution . Varying sources refer to

4860-408: The iron curtain – including information provided by the Lithuanian partisans. Former members of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, Lithuanian Liberty Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces , Lithuanian Riflemen's Union formed the basis of Lithuanian partisans. Farmers, Lithuanian officials, students, teachers, even pupils joined the partisan movement. The movement was actively supported by society and

4941-400: The leadership of the Latvian Central Council adopted the Declaration on the restoration of the State of Latvia . It was intended to restore de facto independence to the Latvian republic. In addition it was hoped international supporters would take advantage of the interval between changeovers of the occupying powers. The Declaration prescribed that the Satversme was the fundamental law of

SECTION 60

#1732875655852

5022-411: The local populations turned against the Nazi regime as Germany turned the Baltic states—except for the Memel (Klaipėda) region annexed into Greater Germany in 1939—and most of Belarus into the Reichskommissariat Ostland , a colony in all but name in which the four predominant nationalities had little role in governance. Hinrich Lohse , a German Nazi politician, was Reichskommissar until he fled in

5103-527: The majority of Balts welcomed the German armed forces when they crossed the frontiers of Lithuania. In Lithuania, a revolt broke out on the first day of the war, and a provisional government was established. As the German armies approached Riga and Tallinn , there were attempts to re-establish national governments. It was hoped that the Germans would re-establish Baltic independence. Such political hopes soon evaporated and Baltic cooperation became less forthright or ceased altogether. A growing proportion of

5184-430: The matter, and who had committed no such crimes. In 1949–1950 the United States Displaced Persons Commission investigated the Estonian and Latvian divisions and on September 1, 1950, adopted the following policy: The Baltic Waffen SS Units are to be considered as separate and distinct in purpose, ideology, activities, and qualifications for membership from the German SS, and therefore the Commission holds them not to be

5265-506: The on Ministry of the Environment and the State Forest Management Centre “misleading” the public about logging in the country. The RMK is both responsible for protecting the nation's forests, as well as overseeing exploitation of the resources, leading to a natural conflict of interest within the Estonian government. One example is a situation where the director-general of the Environment Board resigned shortly after temporarily pausing logging to protect nesting birds. Culturally, Estonians are

5346-447: The organization controlled dozens of villages and towns, creating considerable nuisance to Soviet supply transports that required an armed escort. August Sabbe , one of the last surviving Forest Brothers, was discovered in 1978 by KGB agents posing with his fellow fishermen. Instead of surrendering he leaped into the Võhandu . was caught on a log, and drowned. The KGB insisted that the 69-year-old Sabbe had drowned while trying to escape,

5427-415: The partisans inflicted damage on uniformed military personnel, party cadres (particularly in rural areas), buildings, and ammunition depots. The Communist authorities reported 1,562 Soviet personnel killed and 560 wounded during the entire resistance period. One account of a typical Forest Brothers action is provided by Tālrīts Krastiņš. He, a reconnaissance soldier of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of

5508-447: The provisions of the Atlantic Charter and a sovereign right acknowledged by the democratic world, by bearing arms against one of the World War II Aggressors ... The Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania ... constituted the supreme political and military structure ... and was the sole legal authority within the territory of occupied Lithuania. In Latvia and Lithuania, Forest Brothers veterans receive

5589-543: The real numbers were even larger, many believe this reveals the ratio of the size of resistance among the three countries. In Estonia 14,000–15,000 men participated in the fighting between 1944 and 1953: The Forest Brothers were most active in Võru County along the borderlands between Pärnu and Lääne counties and included significant activity between Tartu and Viru counties as well. From November 1944 to November 1947, they carried out 773 armed attacks, killing about 1,000 Soviets and their supporters. At its peak in 1947,

5670-484: The restored Republic of Latvia, and provided for the establishment of a Cabinet of Ministers that would organise the restoration of the State of Latvia. Some of the most prominent LCC accomplishments were related to its military branch – General Jānis Kurelis group (the so-called "kurelieši") with the Lieutenant Roberts Rubenis battalion, which carried out the armed resistance against Waffen SS forces. The number of active combatants peaked between 10,000 and 15,000, while

5751-436: The terror campaign. In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvian volunteers to fight against the Red Army . A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The Latvian resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council and the Soviet partisan units under the Central Staff of the Partisan Movement in Moscow. Their Latvian commander

5832-433: The three countries, the resistance was best organized in Lithuania, where guerrilla units controlled whole regions of the countryside until 1949. Their armaments included Czech Škoda guns , Russian Maxim heavy machine guns , assorted mortars and a wide variety of mainly German and Soviet light machine guns and submachine guns . When not in direct battles with the Red Army or special NKVD units, they significantly delayed

5913-451: The total number of resistance fighters was as high as 40,000. One author gives a figure of up to 12,000 grouped in 700 bands during the 1945–55 decade, but definitive figures are unavailable. Over time, the partisans replaced their German weapons with Soviet makes. The Central Command of Latvian resistance organizations maintained an office on Matīsa Street in Riga until 1947. In some 3,000 raids,

5994-421: The war, and fewer than half the registered conscripts reported in some districts. The widespread harassment of disappearing conscripts' families pushed more people to evade authorities in the forests. Many enlisted men deserted, taking their weapons with them. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Joseph Stalin made a public statement on the radio calling for a scorched earth policy in

6075-594: The war. By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Red Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Narva was evacuated. Jüri Uluots , the last legitimate Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the constitution of Estonia) before its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, delivered as a private citizen a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service. (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across

6156-442: Was Taimi Kreitsberg. She recalled that Soviet officials "...took me to Võru, I was not beaten there, but for three days and nights I was given neither food nor drink. They told me they were not going to kill me, but torture me [until] I betrayed all the bandits. For about a month they dragged me through woods and took me to farms owned by relatives of Forest Brothers, and they sent me in as an instigator to ask for food and shelter while

6237-532: Was apprehended and sentenced to prison in 1948. The Latvian Forest Brothers were most active in the border regions, including Dundaga , Taurkalne , Lubāna , Aloja and Līvāni . In the eastern regions, they had ties with the Estonian Forest Brothers; and in the western regions, with the Lithuanians. As in Estonia and Lithuania, the partisans were killed off and infiltrated by the MVD and NKVD over many years. As in Estonia and Lithuania, assistance from Western intelligence

6318-537: Was awarded the Cross of Vytis posthumously in 2000. Benediktas Mikulis, one of the last known partisans to remain in the forest, emerged in 1971. He was arrested in the 1980s and spent several years in prison. By the early 1950s, the Soviet forces had eradicated most of the Forest Brother resistance. Intelligence gathered by the Soviet spies in the West and MGB infiltrators within the resistance movement, in combination with large-scale Soviet operations in 1952, managed to end

6399-608: Was deported to a concentration camp in Salaspils , Latvia. Approximately half the remaining forces formed guerrilla units and dissolved into the countryside to prepare for partisan operations against the Red Army as the Eastern Front approached. Guerrilla operations in Estonia and Latvia had some basis in Adolf Hitler 's authorization to withdraw from Estonia in mid-September 1944 – he allowed soldiers of his Estonian forces, primarily

6480-423: Was severely compromised by Soviet counter-intelligence and Latvian double agents such as Augusts Bergmanis and Vidvuds Sveics . Furthermore, the Soviets gradually consolidated their rule in the cities: help from rural civilians was less forthcoming, and special military and security units were sent to control the partisans. The last groups emerged from the forest in 1957 to surrender to the authorities. Among

6561-462: Was suppressed under the Soviet regime. Writings on the subject by Baltic emigrants were often labelled as examples of "ethnic sympathy" and disregarded. Laar's research efforts, begun in Estonia in the late 1980s, are considered to have opened the door for further study. In 1999, the Lithuanian Seimas (parliament) enacted a declaration of independence that had been made on February 16, 1949,

#851148