Battle of the Baltics(including the First Part of

Barbarossa)Presented by Kunal Gupta, Kaley Romero, Derek Schreiber, Simona

Snapkauskaite, Tim Tran

Thesis

Through the invasion of the Baltics in the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany provoked a Soviet counter-strike that forced Hitler to fight a war on two fronts; this conflict not only over-extended Nazi forces but also caused strife and turmoil for the people of the Baltics.

Soviet Control (pre-Operation Barbarossa)

● September 28-October 10, 1939- U.S.S.R forced Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to allow Red Army forces into their nations and started to impose puppet governments and politicians that advocated Soviet rule (Tag Archives)

● Baltics had no ability to fight back, and no ally in Europe to help them (Tag Archives)o everyone else focused on war, uneager to fight Russia (ally in

the war)● Still, resistance known as the Forest Brotherhood(partisans) worked

to thwart the movements of the Red Armyo wore white sleeves on their arm (baltaraisciai) (Buttar 109).

● Soviets very unpopular among the people of the Baltics due to occupation and conscription of its people, as well as mass deportations to Siberia.o Led the people to seek salvation in the Germans.

German Offensive● Known as Operation Barbarossa● Motivation

o Invading USSR for Lebensraum (Webb).o Setting the stage for the prognosticated show-down

between Britain and Nazi Germany as the world power (Webb).

o Free Germany from economic strain placed upon it by Allies (Webb).

● Germany army split up into Army group North, Center, and South.● Used Blitzkrieg tactics to take large swaths of Soviet territory.● Targeted railways and airports.● Most of the Baltic locals were happy to see German forces.

o “As the Germans marched into Lithuania, they were greeted by jubilant crowds, and thousands of people who threw bunches of flowers to the men they regarded as saviors from the Bolsheviks” (Buttar 103).

Baltic Reception of the Germans● Germans were considered by many

of the people of the Baltics as liberators

● Hoped that they would allow for Baltic independence

● However, it soon became clear that the Nazis planned to use the Baltics for lebensraum, and hoped to completely Germanize the area #volkgemeinschaft

● Also, as we will get into later, the Nazis also heavily persecuted the Jews of the Baltics, leading to ghettos and concentration camps around the region

Russian Counter-Offensive● Russian forces defeated Army group Center and forced German troops out of Lithuania, and

Estonia● Seeing the hole in the German lines, the Russian forces moved west to the Baltic sea cutting off

German influence in the Baltic states● They then focused their attacks on Latvia where the remainder of German forces were settled.

The Latvians were on the side of the Germans.o “On 1 March, units of the Red Army attacked across the frozen Velikaya, the beginning of

a series of battles that continued through most of the month. On 16 March, the Latvians were driven from Hill 93.4 near Sapronovo, one of the few pieces of high ground on the west bank…” (Buttar 183).

● The Russians surrounded the remnants of Army group North in the Courland Peninsula of Latvia

● Hitler Renamed Army group North to Army group Courland which recognized the fact that he thought that there was no chance for a linkup between East Prussia and the Baltic states

● Army Group Courland surrendered on May 9th, 1945 after over 200,000 prisoners were taken (Phillips)

Military Movements

Details/Analysis of thesis (Importance)If Hitler hadn’t attacked the Baltics, Russia would have stayed with the Axis forces. The Soviet Union played a large part in the Allies’ victory once they declared war with Germany. Not only did they retake the Baltics, they continued to press against Germany’s Eastern borders.As Hitler continued to fight the war, he was pressed on two fronts. Unable to defend Germany, this ultimately led to the Nazi Party’s downfall.

Terrifying facts/ Long term effects

General Deaths from War or Occupation in the Baltics

● 180,000 deaths within Latvia

● 250,000 deaths within Lithuania

● 90,000 deaths within Estonia

DID YOU KNOW? The highest wartime losses in Europe were in the Baltics

General Population Loss in the Baltics● Resulted from emigration, deportations,

exterminations, and deaths● Estonian population loss of 25%● Lithuanian population loss of 15%

~The horrors of being a target of the Nazis in the Baltics and Soviet Union~

The Eastern Holocaust

WARNING!Disturbing content ahead

Baltic Camps - Klooga Camp, Estonia“It was already afternoon, and the workers were not returning. Suddenly there was a sound of automatic rifle fire. Every fifteen minutes, Germans came and took away 25 to 50 people and immediately afterwards there was the sound of rifle fire” (Webb).

All quotes from the written records of M. Balberiszsky, a prisoner of the camp (Webb).

“Suddenly there is quiet, silence, only fire and sparks, Children, women, men are burned in the fire and when day breaks once again we no longer see any Germans” (Webb).

Ghetto Life - Kharkov, Ukraine“We were permitted to go out of the barracks between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. – anyone who went out at any other time was shot on the spot. By morning, the corridors of the barracks were befouled to an unimaginable degree. Then there began a cleanup by hand, since there were no shovels or brooms, and the Germans threatened us with the firing squad if it wasn’t all picked up within an hour. The morning was also the time for removing the bodies of those who had died the night before” (Webb).

Quote from Jewish engineer in the ghetto, S. Krivoruchko (Webb).

Inhumane Treatment - Lvov, Ukraine

“In front of the military prison, Zamarstinov, hundreds of Jews were removed from the nearby houses, men, women, old people, youngsters, boys and girls, children, all naked, after their clothes and underwear had been plucked from them, bleeding, followed by blows and kicks into the prison courtyard. “The people were ordered to dig their own pits and trenches, into which they fell, after being shot. Some three hundred people were killed on that day, and several thousands more were injured, beaten, crippled. “Thus is the face of the first day of German rule in Lvov” (Webb).

Quote from Polish writer Tadeusz Zaderecki living there (Webb).

Gas Vans Usage“There were two gas-vans in use. I saw them myself. They were driven into the prison yard and the Jews – men, women and children – had to get into the van directly from the cell. I also saw inside the gas-vans, they were lined with metal and there was a wooden grille on the floor. The exhaust gases were fed into the inside of the van…”

“I can still today hear the Jews knocking and shouting,

‘Dear Germans, let us out’” (Webb).

Quote from Battalion 9 of the Anton Lauer Police Reserve (Webb).

Works Cited"22 September 1944: From One Occupation to Another." Estonia.eu. Welcome to Estonia, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.Buttar, Prit. Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II. N.p.: Osprey, 2013. Print.Chen, C. Peter, Alan Chanter, Thomas Houlihan, and David David Stubblebine. 1941 Timeline. N.p.: n.p., n.d. World War II

Database. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.Hurtado, Mike. "World War II in the Baltic." World War II in the Baltic. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.Meo, Valentina “RIP Obi-Juan”. Murder in Hayward’s Class. Physics, 13 Mar. 2015"Operation Barbarossa." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. Phillips, Charles, and Alan Axelrod. Encyclopedia of Wars. New York: Facts on File, 2005. Print."Tag Archives: Occupation of the Baltic States." Latvian History. Latvian History, 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.Webb, Chris, Carmelo Lisciotto, and Victor Smart. "The Holocaust in the Soviet Union and Baltic States." The Holocaust in the

Soviet Union and Baltic States. H.E.A.R.T., 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.Webb, Chris. "Operation Barbarossa 1941-1943." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. H. E. A. R. T., 2008. Web.

13 Mar. 2015."World War II, 1939 - 1945." World War II, 1939 - 1945. Worldology, 2009. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Picture Works Citedhttp://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/opbarb.htmlhttps://www.pinterest.com/marcoabal/wwii-baltic-states/http://www.youreuropemap.com/