The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (; , LVR) was a short-lived Lithuanian volunteer military formation established in February 1944 in German-occupied Lithuania under the command of General Povilas Plechavičius. It was created following negotiations between Lithuanian representatives and the German occupation authorities, at a time when Germany sought additional Lithuanian manpower for security duties and the Eastern Front. Lithuanian organizers, however, regarded the force as a means of creating a nationally commanded armed formation that would operate only within Lithuania and might eventually form the basis of a restored Lithuanian army.
The LVR enjoyed a limited degree of autonomy under Lithuanian officers but was armed, supplied and authorized by the German occupation authorities. Its units were deployed primarily in southeastern Lithuania, where they fought Soviet partisans and the Polish Home Army. During these operations, members of the force were also responsible for violence against Polish civilians.
In May 1944, after serious defeats in fighting with the Home Army and growing German attempts to place the formation under direct German command and deploy its personnel outside Lithuania, Plechavičius ordered his troops not to comply and to disperse. The German authorities subsequently arrested the LVR leadership and forcibly disarmed and dissolved the remaining units. During the subsequent repressions, the German occupiers sent 52 officers to the Salaspils concentration camp, executed 86 LTDF members in Paneriai, and deported 1,089 to Stutthof and Oldenburg concentration camps.
Many former members of the LVR later participated in the anti-Soviet resistance after the Soviet reoccupation of Lithuania. The Soldiers' Union of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (), a veterans' organization, was founded in 1997.
Background Earlier failed mobilisation attempts After Nazi Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943 and the Eastern Front began moving westwards, the occupying German authorities became concerned with mobilizing the population of occupied lands and revised its policy to allow Lithuanians to mobilize themselves after attempts failed to mobilize youths into the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht units.
Lithuanians boycotted mobilization to the Waffen-SS in 1943; fewer than 300 men reported. The Nazis carried out reprisals against the population and deported 46 prominent figures and members of the intelligentsia to Stutthof concentration camp. The Nazis closed all Lithuanian higher education institutions March 18–19 and intensified their hunt for Lithuanian youth for forced labour in Germany.
At the end of January 1944, a compromise was reached and the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force was established. On January 31, the Reich SS and police leader (SSPF) signed an order on the organization of Lithuanian battalions to fight against "banditry". On February 1, General Povilas Plechavičius was appointed commander of the LTDF.
Late 1943 By late 1943, German leadership was forced to negotiate with Lithuanian representatives on the formation of a Lithuanian unit, which refused German demands to organize an SS legion. November 23–24, 1943, the Nation's Council rejected the proposal to establish an SS legion. Instead, they advocated for a national Lithuanian army, following the principles outlined by Lithuanian general Stasys Raštikis, that the Lithuanian Army consist of all types of units and weaponry, be commanded by a reliable Lithuanian officer and led by Lithuanian officers, and that all Lithuanians serving in other military units and police be allowed to join. It would only operate in Lithuania, defending it from a Bolshevik invasion, and initially consist of 60,000 soldiers. In addition, mobilization for the army would be initiated by the commander of the Lithuanian army.
January 1944 Adrian von Renteln, General Commissioner of Lithuania, returned from Berlin during Christmas 1943 and met with first councillor Petras Kubiliūnas, professor Mykolas Biržiška, and general Antanas Rėklaitis and explained the German position to them. While agreeing to permit a Lithuanian division, the Germans refused to allow the Lithuanians to form a national army. They required that a German lead the division and a petition from Lithuanians to create it. They also demanded that the name of the inspector general of the Lithuanian armed forces be used as the name.
On 3–4 January 1944, the general councillors discussed the draft petition, in whose preamble they wrote:"Violently breaking the solemn promises given to the Republic of Lithuania to respect the "sovereignty and territorial integrity and inviolability of Lithuania under all circumstances" (1926 treaty between the Republic of Lithuania and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, Article 2) on 15 June 1940, the Soviet Union's government, having militarily occupied Lithuania, falsifying the will of the Lithuanian people, and joining the territory of Lithuania to the Soviet Union with the help of the Red Army, is now again using Stalin's lips to 'liberate' the Republic of Lithuania."They then requested permission to form the 1st Lithuanian Division, commanded by a senior Lithuanian officer, who would be called the inspector general. The division would be created by mobilization and would be tasked with the defence of Lithuanian territory from the Soviet invasion.
The German administration's behaviour was assessed by the anti-Nazi Lithuanian Front's :"Such German tendencies still show two things: first, that they do not trust the Lithuanians and do not want to allow them a larger, more independent armed force; secondly, that they are still only pursuing their unilateral interests (military and political), disregarding the interests of Lithuanians. Militarily, they want to get people to plug the gaps in their army; politically - to announce to the world that Lithuanians are asking to be accepted under German leadership and protection to fight for the New Europe." The Lithuanians understood their interests, did not identify them with Nazi plans and refused to be blindly used by the German occupiers. Adrian von Renteln summoned general Povilas Plechavičius on January 7, 1944 to convince him that Lithuanian forces were necessary to combat Bolshevism. Plechavičius informed Renteln on January 9 that he would protect his countrymen if he was given the freedom to form and lead the Lithuanian units with independent leadership. Since military formations could only be constituted in occupied territory with the approval of Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler, Renteln pledged to speak with Berlin.
Plechavičius' conditions on January 31
Plechavičius wrote to Petras Kubiliūnas, the first general councillor, on January 31, setting out the following conditions for his command of the Lithuanian unit. The minimum 10,000-strong future brigade was to be the centre of the future Lithuanian armed forces for the anti-Bolshevik fight, exclusively controlled by the brigade's commander, and employed only inside the territory of the General District of Lithuania. On Lithuanian military mobilization, certificates for a person's irreplaceability in the economy and such would be removed. The brigade's military court would follow the Lithuanian interwar military court law to enforce discipline. The brigade would be tasked with protecting strategic military sites, if not protected by the Wehrmacht, while Ukrainian and other foreign units would leave Lithuania. If needed, the commander could employ other Lithuanian units in the Lithuanian General District and confiscate vehicles. Lithuanian Police would obey the brigade commander's orders to ensure security and order in Lithuania.
The German establishment would not issue direct orders to the brigade or use individual units at will and would not hamper its creation. Deportation of Lithuanians for forced labour in Nazi Germany would stop during the brigade's creation. The Lithuanians would be armed, clothed and equipped along the lines of the German army, while the relatives of their dead and wounded would be treated identically to those of the German army. The General Commissioner of Lithuania would appoint the brigade commander, who would author the text of the oath, together with the head of the General Commissariat's police department.
That same day, Hermann Harm, SSPF in Lithuania, wrote Kubiliūnas a letter about Plechavičius' conditions, many of which were unmet, such as transfer of officers from police battalions, but Plechavičius agreed regardless to be the LTDF's leader. According to Lithuanian general Stasys Raštikis' memoirs, there were three candidates for the commander, himself, Antanas Rėklaitis, and Povilas Plechavičius. After the first two refused, Plechavičius became commander on February 1.
On 31 January 1944, the SSPF headquarters signed an order for the organization of Lithuanian battalions to fight against banditry. That same day, the Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler issued an order to recruit 50,000 Lithuanians for the Wehrmacht's Army Group North.
Anti-Nazi resistance and negotiations Long negotiations between SSPF Ostland Friedrich Jeckeln, Hermann Harm, and Lithuanians led to an agreement about a 5,000-man (later 10,000) unit called the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force, recruited from Lithuanian self-organized military headquarters () with military units assigned to it. The soldiers would wear Lithuanian insignia. The formal agreement was signed on February 13.
Lithuanian anti-Nazi resistance organizations supported the LTDF, which they wanted to use to fight against Soviet partisans in Lithuania and the Soviet Red Army when Nazi Germany was defeated. The LTDF was to be the nucleus of these military units to restore the Lithuanian state, on which the army of the Republic of Lithuania would be based. The Nazi occupation authorities viewed the LTDF differently and termed its units police battalions, planning to use them for Eastern Front battles and only minimally to fight Soviet partisans. The Germans also wanted to recruit tens of thousands of Lithuanians into the Wehrmacht auxiliary units through the LTDF.
Situation in eastern Lithuania During the German occupation of eastern Lithuania from 1941 to 1944, there were four different military groups, whose goals differed greatly; the incompatibility of the goals led to inevitable confrontation and conflict between the groups. Fighters from the anti-Nazi Lithuanian underground and Polish Home Army attempted to negotiate a joint struggle against the Nazi occupation but failed.
Soviet partisans wanted to return Lithuania to Soviet occupation and were opposed to the others: the Lithuanian Territorial Defence Force, the occupying German troops, and the Home Army. However, Soviet partisans had similar enemies to the latter group, even if their goals differed. The Polish Home Army wanted to restore the Polish state within its pre-1939 borders.
From 1943, Polish partisan units began to be established in the Vilnius region, 15 of them between April and June 1944. Polish partisans attacked the German and Lithuanian police as well as Soviet partisans. From the end of 1943, the Polish Home Army escalated its activity and began attacking towns and district centres, terrorizing Lithuanians, whether local government officials, teachers or other civilians. Sometimes, the Polish Home Army de facto ruled some areas in eastern Lithuania.