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Algirdas KlimaitisLithuanian journalist
Country:
 Lithuania |
Content:
- Jonas Klimasuskas: Lithuanian Nationalist and Nazi Collaborator
- Independent Operations and Role in the Holocaust
- Life in Exile and Controversy
Jonas Klimasuskas: Lithuanian Nationalist and Nazi Collaborator
Early Life and Involvement in the ResistanceJonas Klimasuskas was a Lithuanian journalist and nationalist who became a prominent figure in the resistance movement against Soviet occupation. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Klimasuskas established a paramilitary force of approximately 600 men that fought against Soviet troops in the battle for Kaunas. By June 23, 1941, the city was under the control of the rebels.
Independent Operations and Role in the Holocaust
However, Klimasuskas's force operated independently of the Provisional Government of Lithuania. On June 25-26, 1941, Klimasuskas's unit initiated a series of pogroms against the Jewish population. By June 28, 1941, SS-Brigadeführer Franz Walter Stahlecker reported that Klimasuskas's subordinates had murdered 3,800 Jews in Kaunas, with an additional 1,200 killed in other cities.
Life in Exile and Controversy
After the war, Klimasuskas fled into exile. His whereabouts remained unknown for years until he was discovered in Hamburg, West Germany, in the 1980s. He died there in 1988. Klimasuskas's role in the Holocaust became a source of controversy, with allegations of his involvement in the murder of thousands of Jews. His legacy remains a complex and contested issue in Baltic history.
