Anti-Communist Resistance in Eastern Europe

Baltic States The guerilla operations in Estonia and Latvia had some basis in Hitler's authorisation of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid-September 1944 he allowed any soldiers of his Estonian forces, primarily 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 Latvian peninsula in 1945. Many Estonian and Latvian soldiers, and a few Germans, evaded capture and fought as Forest Brothers in the countryside for years after the war. Others, such as Alfons Rebane and Alfrds Rieksti escaped to 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, 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 a movement hostile to the Government of the United States under Section 13 of the Displaced Persons Act, as amended" The Latvian government has documented that the Latvian Legion (primarily comprised of the 15th and 19th Latvian Waffen-SS divisions) was neither a criminal nor collaborationist organization. Mart Laar (Prime Minister of Estonia, 1992-1994 and 19992002), in his 1992 book War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1956 debunked Soviet propaganda that had painted the Baltic resistance as having been orchestrated by wealthy landowners and Nazi officials and noted that the Forest Brothers counted among their ranks anti-Nazis and former Soviet partisans. Nevertheless, for some, the links between some Forest Brothers and the Nazi regime remain controversial. The ranks of the resistance swelled with the Red Army's attempts at conscription in the Baltic states after the war, with fewer than half the registered conscripts reporting in some districts. The widespread harassment of disappeared conscripts' families pushed more people to evade authorities in the forests. Many enlisted men deserted, taking their weapons with them. By the late 1940s and early 1950s the Forest Brothers were provided with supplies, liaison officers and logistical coordination by the British (MI6), American, and Swedish secret intelligence services. This support played a key role in directing the Baltic resistance movement, however 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, enabling the KGB to identify, infiltrate and eliminate many Baltic guerilla units and cut others off from any further contact with Western intelligence operatives. The conflict between the Soviet armed forces and the Forest Brothers lasted over a decade and cost at least 50,000 lives. Estimates for the number of guerillas in each country vary. Misiunas and Taagepera estimate between 10,000 and 15,000 in Latvia and 170,000 for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania combined http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3605 23 of June 1941 - at 09:28 AM the national anthem of Lithuania, Tautika giesm, was played on the radio in Kaunas. Lithuanian National Uprising which started a day before was successful. Lithuania

regained independence. The main forces of the Lithuanian Activist Force were concentrated in the major cities of Vilnius and Kaunas, but minor clashes also occurred in rural areas and smaller towns. Major fights happened near the Metalas factory in Kaunas and aniai, a small town near Kaunas as the rebels tried to prevent the Soviet army from crossing the Nemunas. (Niemen) Estimated number of the Lithuanian armed rebels is about 30,000 with further 70,000 ALF members. The retreating Red Army massacred (in some cases after torturing them) popular Lithuanian figures, political prisoners and criminal prisoners who were arrested during the first Soviet occupation. From 1,000 to 2,000 people were killed; the main massacres were at Rainiai, Pravieniks, erven and Panevys. Soviet casualties in the uprising were somewhat larger: about 5,000 Soviet soldiers and activists were killed, as the Soviet forces were caught unprepared. From the very beginning relations with Germany were very complicated. Germany did not recognise the new government despite the hopes that it would be possible to reestablish an independent Lithuania by using the confrontation between the Germans and Soviets. German troops invaded Lithuania and, as Lithuania had no army, it could not resist. The Germans did not depose the government, probably avoiding confrontation with popular LAF and subsequent guerrilla war, at least until the German army could establish itself in Lithuania. The government did not organise any resistance against Germany because it understood that any guerilla war at that point would have been futile, and would have led to the dissolution of government and most likely major repressions against the Lithaunian people. Events of 23-rd June 1941 ultimately led to the longest extension of WWII in Europe. Last Lithuanian Armed Resistance member was killed in 1965. Regular active units of Lithuanian Underground Army were fighting until 1956. http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3605

Lithuanian partisans from Aukstatija - alive.

The last KIA Lithuanian warrior Antanas Kraujalis - "Siaubunas", from "Vytautas" district. killed in action in 17th of March 1965

From left: Juozas Luksa -"Daumantas" (architect, writer of the bestseller "Fighters for Freedom" , KIA 1951.09.04); Viktoras Vitkauskas - "Saidokas" (book-keeper, Commander of "Tauras" district, KIA 1951.02.02), Pranas Naujokas - "Kietis" Notice US made MK-2 grenades. One of most outstanding figures in WW2, that in Lithuania ended only after 1993.08.31 (when the last soldier of Russian occupation forces had left the country) was architect Juozas Luksa - "Daumantas", "Skirmantas" (1921.08.10 - 1951.09.04). He joined armed fight in the Spring of 1945. 1947 became a commander of "Birute" brigade, "Tauras" district (south of Lithuania). In the May of 1947 together with J.Kriksciunas - "Rimvydas" he crossed Iron Curtain (border) for Poland to restore contacts with Lithuanian political leaders in exile. Returned back and after some time crossed border (during the fighting with NKVD border units) again in 15th of October 1947. From Poland he reached the West - visited and made great number of contacts with Lithuanian leaders and unofficial with the officials from secret services of US, UK and France in W. Germany, France, Sweden - seeking for any political and military support from Western Democracies. Unfortunately, the only support he get - was a treason by NKVD-KGB agents infiltrated in UK MI, and US CIA. Juozas Luksa get married in France with Lithuanian girl, both knowing, that he is going to return back soon, to continue his fight to the end. She died few years ago, still as a widow of Juozas Luksa. During his short stay in the Free countries he wrote the book about what was really going on in Lithuania (the bestseller) "Freedom Fighters: Lithuanian Partisans Versus the U.S.S.R, 1944-1947": In 1950.10.03 he was paratrooped with other two Lithuanian Freedom Fighters, (all armed and well trained in special secret service schools in France and W.Germany Klemensas Sirvys - "Sakalas" (1926-2003) and Benediktas Trumpys - "Rytis" (19191951). During this landing in Zemaitija, they have lost some of the equipment, because of the traitors in UK MI. NKVD were well informed and waiting for them! But all 3 managed to reach the active Partisans in the South of Lithuania, "Tauras" military district. B.Trumpys - "Rytis" KIA in 1951.05.20 in his bunker, near Zapyskis (close to Kaunas), but K.Sirvys - "Sakalas", from 1951.07.20 commander of "Zalgiris" brigade, in 1952.07.24 was not killed in action, but unfortunately only wounded. After NKVD treatment, he became a traitor of MGB and during 2 years was used for provocation and

other purposes. After that he was sentenced 25 years in Communist Labor camp plus 5 years in exile. After that he in the 1970 returned to occupied Lithuania. Died in 2003 http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?s=93c707657a8faf8c612d26248e12 70ae&t=3605&page=2 Ukraine

Poland Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) and the Jews In February 1942, the Operational Command of the AK Information and Propaganda Office set up the Section for Jewish Affairs, directed by Henryk Woliski. This section collected data about the situation of the Jewish population, drafted reports and sent information to London. It also centralized contacts between Polish and Jewish military organizations. The AK also organised financial aid for Jews (see egota). The AK accepted only a few Jews (about one thousand) into its own ranks: it generally turned down Jewish applicants, since they could be more easily identified by the Nazis. One of AK members, Witold Pilecki, was the only person to volunteer for imprisonment in Auschwitz. The information he gathered proved crucial in convincing Western Allies about the fate of Jewish population. The AK provided the Warsaw Ghetto with about sixty revolvers, several hundred hand grenades, and ammunition and explosives. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, AK units tried twice to blow up the ghetto wall, carried out holding actions outside the ghetto walls, and together with GL forces sporadically attacked German sentry units near the ghetto walls. Security Cadre (Kadra Bezpieczestwa or KB), one of the organizations subordinate to the AK, under the command of Henryk Iwaski took a direct part in fights inside the ghetto together with Jewish fighters from ZW and OB.

Three out of seven members of the Collective Command of the AK (KG AK) had Jewish origins. While most historians agree that AK was largely untainted in collaboration with Nazis in the Holocaust, the accusations of the complicity of single AK members or groups in antiJewish violence in Poland are frequently brought up to this day. The issue remains a controversial one and is subject to a difficult debate. http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3605 After entering the polish territory in January 1944, Red Army did not ring freedom, nor peace to Poland. After initial cooperation between Armia Krajowa (Home Army) troops and Soviet forces against Germans (Operation "Burza" - Storm), NKVD started a large scale arresting of members of polish underground. Majority of them were imprisoned or murdered fast. The rest of soldiers was forced to join the 1st and 2nd Army (communist) comanded by gen. Zygmunt Berling and gen. Karol "Walter" Swierczewski. The largest and well-organised movement was first to be destroyed in aim to weaken the polish element. Despite of that the underground was still on guard for independence. Ressistance against soviet domination instantly assumed the form of organised warfare. Main guerilla units fought until end of 40's, but in some areas much longer. When almost whole world celebrated the D-Day in Europe on night of 8-9th of May, a company of polish ressistance fighters led by mjr "Bruzda" was on its way to rescue their fellow comrades held in prison by Security Force in city of Grajewo. For these men the war was not over. They were members of new secret organisation called "Freedom and Independence" ("Wolnosc i Niezawislosc - WiN). It's creation (in january 1945) was a desperate act of protest against raitors' rule imposed by soviet military. When all agreements between llies (made in Teheran in Yalta) became widely known, it was obvious that 3rd World War will not break out soon. And only defeat of Soviet Union n future conflict could bring freedom to Poland. Without any chance for help from the outside, all these fighters who avoided being captured by NKVD or Security Service carried on their fight. The new underground structure free of Soviet infiltration was ready in January 1945. It took over the control over remaining Home Army units and structures. The main aim of this organisation was preventing communist from winning in incoming elections to parliament. The WiN's leader demanded withdrawal of Red Army and NKVD from Poland. They also postulated an indenpendence from Soviet Union and need of democratic elections. That's why WiN became a main internal enemy of new rulers and their Security Service. Since 1944 WiN and other anti-communist organisations kept fighting in self-defence. The exact number of undeground fighters is unknown, but estimated at least 30000 soldiers. They launched hundreds of successful attacks against Militia Posts, Security Service Barracks and prisons. They fought against huge enemy supported with tanks, artillery and air force. And many times they were victorious. The last of them, Jozef "Lalek" Franczak was killed in his shelter by Security Service on 21st of october 1963.

10th Dragoons, 1st Armoured Div.