Lietuvos karininkai darbo ir sargybų kuopose Vokietijoje 1946-1949 m.

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Darbo ir sargybų kuopos Didžiosios Britanijos kariuomenėje; Darbo ir sargybų kuopos JAV kariuomenėje; Darbo ir sargybų kuopos Vokietijoje 1946–1949 m.; Karininkai; Lietuviai pabėgėliai; Lietuvos karininkai Vokietijoje; Pagalbiniai daliniai; Sąjungininkų kariuomenė; Tarnyba; Vokietija (Germany); Allied army; Auxiliary units; Germany; Labour and guard units in Germany 1946–1949; Labour and guard units in the British army; Labour and guard units in the US army; Lithuania; Lithuanian officers in Germany; Lithuanian refugees; Officers; Service.

ENAfter World War II the victorious United States and Great Britain sought to demobilize their armed forces but soon realized they had too little manpower left not only to do important jobs but also to guard prisoners of war and war criminals. For this reason service units made up of soldiers of Polish descent were formed to carry out precisely these tasks. But soon after the army ran out of Polish-origin soldiers attention turned to refugees from the Baltic States. Former officers of the Lithuanian Army began to command these services; in this way they could apply their professional knowledge, partially rehabilitate themselves for having left their homeland, and improve their own and their men’s material conditions. Service in these units allowed them both to preserve their Lithuanianness and to gain familiarity with Anglo-Saxon culture. This helped them with their social and professional integration when later most of these service members and their commanding officers emigrated to the United States and other English-speaking countries. Although there were plans to reconstitute these units into a Lithuanian army in exile, they never became reality. Still, the Lithuanians who served in them left a favorable impression and thereby contributed to defeating negative stereotypes about the Balts. High-ranking U. S. and British officers described these Lithuanian soldiers in the best of terms; and the trust of the former in the latter is reflected in the fact that the Lithuanians were entrusted with such important duties as guarding Nazi criminals at Nuremberg and serving during the Berlin blockade, a service which earned them the accolade of “a job well done”. [From the publication]