258th Lithuanian Police Battalion
258th Lithuanian Police Battalion (German: Litauische Polizei-Ersatz-Bataillon Nr. 258, lit. '258th Lithuanian Police Ersatz Battalion';[1] Lithuanian: 258-asis lietuvių policijos batalionas) was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion formed on 27 April 1944.[1][2] The unit was disbanded in Tilsit at the end of July that same year.[2]
| 258th Lithuanian Police Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Lithuanian: 258-asis lietuvių policijos batalionas | |
| Active |
|
| Country | German-occupied Lithuania |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Ordnungspolizei |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | ~250 (May 1944) |
Formation edit
The battalion was formed on April 27 by Order of the Day No.5, issued by the Ordnungspolizei leader under the SS- und Polizeiführer in Lithuania.[1] This order created and formed the 258th Lithuanian Police battalion from the training units (Mokymo dalis) of the LAD.[1]
History edit
This unit, or at least its headquarters, were deployed in Kaunas from April to mid-June, judging from the orders issued to the Training Units and the 258th Battalion.[3] According to other sources, the battalion was in Prienai in May 1944.[3] Two other battalions were deployed at Prienai barracks: one German, the other Lithuanian.[3] The 258th battalion included about 250 soldiers, whose uniform was blue Wehrmacht infantry uniforms.[3]
April edit
On 1 April 1944, captain Albinas Lastauskas, the commander of the young soldiers' company, together with 21 other soldiers, was sent to the 259th Lithuanian Police Battalion, that was forming in Prienai.[2] Lastauskas' position was taken over by non-commissioned officer Jurgis Normantas.[4] The young soldiers' company, in terms of training supervision, was under the training company's commander.[4] The training company's lieutenant Nikodemas Reikalas was given special holidays for May 28-June 9.[4]
The 258th Battalion included one construction and one assembly company.[4] The assembly company was commanded by lieutenant Petras Polekauskas.[4] On April 1, the assembly company received lieutenant Jonas Paliulionis, 55 NCOs and soldiers from the 8th Battalion.[4] On May 31, lieutenant Vytautas Andriuškevičius, also from the 8th Battalion, was also sent to the assembly company.[4] On April 4, by the order of captain Antanas Ruzgys, commander of the Training Unit, 245 soldiers of the construction company were sent to the 259th Battalion.[4]
On April 26, the Commander of the SiPo and SD ordered the arrests of Valerijonas Janulis, the 258th Battalion's staff junior non-commissioned officer, and private Antanas Plečkaitis.[5] They were to be given over to the Gestapo.[5]
May edit
On May 23, captain Viktoras Jarašiūnas from the 2nd Battalion, was appointed to serve in the battalion headquarters.[4] Four days later, on May 27, captain Vladas Patašius from the 253th Battalion was temporarily appointed the Battalion commander's adjutant.[4] For unknown reasons, the assembly company's private Antanas Strimaitis was arrested by the German police and imprisoned in the Kaunas Hard Labour Prison.[6] On May 29, the privates Kazys Urbonas, Albertas Katilevičius, Kazys Paškevičius and Edvardas Lileika left the battalion.[6]
June edit
At the beginning of June, the 258th Battalion was moved to Kaunas, where the soldiers guarded the military warehouses.[4] At summer's beginning, one platoon from the battalion served at the 11th resistance point, which guarded the railway section near Kazlų Rūda, the railway station and the railway bridge.[4] There were 16 soldiers armed with 1 light machine gun, 1 light mortar and rifles at this point of resistance.[4]
As the Red Army occupied more and more of Lithuania, the battalion retreated to Tilsit.[7] At the end of July, the 258th Battalion was disbanded in Tilsit.[4]
Aftermath edit
From Tilsit, the battalion's remnants were moved to the town of Zingst near the Belgium–Germany border to build fortifications there.[7] Three weeks later, Lithuanian soldiers were sent to build new power lines at the Swiss border.[7] The battalion's former soldiers were captured by the United States Army in early May 1945.[7]
Some of the battalion's soldiers were transferred to other military units, while other were sent to a special camp on the Rügen island, where Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Russians and Ukrainians were being taught military and intelligence subjects.[4]
References edit
Bibliography edit
- Breslavskienė, Laimutė (September 2010). [CENTRAL STATE ARCHIVES OF LITHUANIA CERTIFICATE ABOUT THE 258TH LITHUANIAN POLICE] (in Lithuanian). Lietuvos centrinis valstybės archyvas. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- Bubnys, Arūnas (17 October 2009). "Lietuvių policijos batalionų nuginklavimas ir išformavimas Rytprūsiuose 1944 metais" ["Disarming and disbanding Lithuanian police battalions in East Prussia in 1944"] (PDF). Voruta (in Lithuanian). 20 (686). ISSN 1392-0677.
- Bubnys, Arūnas (2017). Lietuvių policijos batalionai 1941-1945 m. [Lithuanian police battalions 1941-1945] (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras. ISBN 978-609-8037-68-5.